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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/28988874">Red Letter Day</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/silverwhittlingknife/pseuds/silverwhittlingknife'>silverwhittlingknife</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>A Thousand Ninjas [3]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Batman - All Media Types, DCU (Comics), Detective Comics (Comics), Nightwing (Comics), Red Robin (Comics)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>(kind of), Batfamily Feels, Case Fic, Damian Wayne is Bad at Feelings, Dick Grayson Needs a Hug, Dick Grayson is a Good Brother, Dick Grayson-centric, Gen, Jason Todd is a good brother (in his own way), Past Sexual Assault, Tim Drake Needs a Hug, Tim Drake's Missing Spleen, Tim Drake-centric, Unreliable Narrator, canon-typical trauma, everybody is more sympathetic than they might appear and Dick will work that out eventually, nightwing 93</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-01-25</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-04-22</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-13 09:48:51</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>5</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>19,947</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/28988874</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/silverwhittlingknife/pseuds/silverwhittlingknife</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Dick Grayson, stressed pseudo-parent to a preteen assassin, tries to solve the case of Damian’s Mysterious Wednesday.</p><p>He never expected it to help him fix his relationship with Tim, too.</p><p>(... Though only after everything fell apart first.)</p><p>  <i>Eventual fix-it for Dick &amp; Tim’s Red Robin fight, but other rocky relationships - Dick &amp; Jason, Tim &amp; Damian, Damian &amp; Bruce, Dick &amp; Bruce - wow, this family is dysfunctional - might improve too.  Eventually. They just have to, y’know, work through All of Their Issues first.</i></p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Tim Drake &amp; Dick Grayson, Tim Drake &amp; Dick Grayson &amp; Damian Wayne, Tim Drake &amp; Dick Grayson &amp; Jason Todd &amp; Bruce Wayne &amp; Damian Wayne</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>A Thousand Ninjas [3]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/2126484</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>202</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>340</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. The Mysterious Wednesday</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><ul class="associations">

        <li>
          Translation into 中文-普通话 國語 available: 
            <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/30839957">【授翻】大日子 Red Letter Day</a> by <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/tiktiktiktiktam/pseuds/tiktiktiktiktam">tiktiktiktiktam</a>
        </li>


    </ul></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <strong>PART ONE: THE CASE OF DAMIAN’S MYSTERIOUS WEDNESDAY</strong>
</p><p>
  <strong>PROLOGUE.</strong>
</p><p>The Letter - Dick always thought of it with Capitals - arrived at the Penthouse on an ordinary Tuesday.  It was in a very official-looking envelope, addressed to Dick Grayson, and Dick <em>knew</em> he had to open it, and deal with whatever was inside, but … there was so much else to do, casework and Damian and a million other tasks, and somehow time passed and he still hadn’t opened it.</p><p>In retrospect, that was his first mistake.</p><p>His <em>second</em> mistake was probably blowing Tim off about the Cobblepot case.</p><p>But the main thing that went wrong - which was so much worse than anything else - came from the most innocuous source: the Red Letter Day planner, and the Case of Damian’s Mysterious Wednesday.</p><p>Dick <em>did</em> solve the case in the end, of course, but he continued to feel - no matter what anyone else said - that it would have been better for all of them, for Damian and Tim and Dick himself and maybe even for Jason, if he had solved it quite a bit sooner, or at least if he’d gone about solving it in a different way, or if he’d never gone to New York, or - at the <em>very least -</em> if he hadn’t let the Case distract him from everything <em>else</em> that was going on.</p><p>But that’s the trouble with detective work.  It’s only once you know all the answers that you can look back and see all the things you did wrong.</p><p>* * *</p><p>
  <strong>GOTHAM.  FRIDAY.  12 DAYS AGO.</strong>
</p><p>Dick started the Red Letter Day planner on a whim.  </p><p>He’d always had a bad head for dates, so he started keeping notes in an appointment planner to remember birthdays, anniversaries, significant moments.  He called it the Red Letter Day planner, bought a bunch of red ink pens.  The letters were for people. An A, circled, for Alfred, on his birthday.  A circled B for Bruce on the night that mattered most: not his birthday, but the day his parents died.  When Dick filled up the first planner, he got others.</p><p>This one is a five-year planner, which means it’s bulky, but it means Dick can flip through the pages and see how his life has changed.  There’s no subtlety to it: back in the early days, all the initials were for members of the Titans; now, half the planner is covered in <em>R</em> for Robin.  He doesn’t really have a choice.  Bruce has already forgotten both Damian’s birthday <em>and</em> his class art show, so it falls to Dick to keep track of things.</p><p>So it all goes in here: Robin’s school talent show and the winter carnival, and that field trip to the zoo that asked for parent volunteers, and that one Humane Society fundraiser, everything that Damian mentions that seems important, and when Dick can’t coerce Bruce into showing up, he goes himself.  Because <em>someone</em> should.</p><p>Even if the kid is too proud to show it, Dick knows that Damian is secretly hurt by Bruce’s cavalier attitude.  He’s <em>tried</em> to make Bruce see sense, but Bruce can be frustratingly obtuse about emotional matters. Damian refuses to admit to caring about “mere trivial details, Grayson,” but the fact is, he <em>does</em> care.  A lot.  And if Dick doesn’t watch out, the kid will end up thinking Bruce doesn’t care about <em>him</em>.  </p><p>Damian mentioned today, in his most dismissive voice, that a parent-teacher night will be held at the beginning of next month, and sniffed that he found the whole practice childish and unnecessary… but the thing is, <em>Dami brought it up</em>.  Dami hardly <em>ever</em> brings up school stuff of his own accord.  Which means no matter what he <em>says</em>, he probably wants someone to show up.</p><p>Which is why Dick is flipping through the planner now to write it in, <em>Parent teacher night </em>in red with a little circled R next to it.  </p><p>More than three weeks from now. Dick will get Bruce there if it kills both of them.</p><p>* * *</p><p>He’s flipping through the Red Letter Day planner when his phone buzzes.   Tim is texting again.</p><p>Tim: <em>I’ve got Janie on camera from arrival to 3:27, can you find them after that?</em></p><p>Dick yawns and tries to work out a crick in his neck.  He’s only been skimming through the surveillance footage for a few minutes, but his eyes are already glazing over.  </p><p>He can’t put this off until tomorrow, though: this is <em>Red Robin’s</em> case, not Batman’s.  Tim asked for help - for the second time in a <em>week</em> - and he’s been texting on and off all day.  This is pretty much unheard of.  Red Robin has been pretty standoffish ever since he came back from abroad.  He doesn’t call.  He rarely texts.  He <em>never</em> asks for help.  And he’s been pretty secretive about what he’s working on.</p><p>So Tim asking for help means he’s gonna <em>get</em> help, no matter how sleepy Dick is.  </p><p>Dick wants to encourage this shiny new <em>actually-sharing-casework</em> thing, even if he’d really rather be doing something else.  And even if he’s suspicious of Tim’s reasons for asking for help.</p><p>You gotta start somewhere.</p><p>The case itself is basically open-and-shut.  Three days ago, a teary babysitter reported a six-year-old missing at an amusement park.  Ominous, except that said six-year-old is Janie Cobblepot, and her uncle Oswald is suspiciously unconcerned.  Probably not coincidental: Oswald purchased kidnapping-and-ransom insurance for her two months ago.</p><p>Chances that the kidnapping is fake and Janie is hanging out with her uncle in perfect safety: very high.</p><p>Normally, Tim deciding to bring Dick in on a comparatively minor case would be a really good sign.  Dick’s been waiting for him to unbend a little.  </p><p>But Dick’s ninety percent sure that this burst of contact isn’t a sign of trust.  It’s just Tim’s way of low-key spying on him.  Or, if you want to be charitable, Tim’s weird way of expressing concern.</p><p>Blockbuster died two years ago today.</p><p>It doesn’t <em>mean</em> anything.  It’s just a day, and Dick is <em>fine</em>.</p><p>Tim shouldn’t have any reason to suspect otherwise, but Tim’s compulsively nosy.  And Dick’s pretty sure he suspects <em>something</em>.  Earlier, Tim offered to come over to the Batbunker so they could watch the footage together.  Dick shot him down, pretty sure that Dick himself was Tim’s <em>actual</em> surveillance target.  </p><p>Though it’s just barely possible that Tim actually wanted help with this case.  Dick is clinging to the possibility.  The amusement park <em>is</em> crowded.</p><p>Dick: <em>check camera 3 for 3:27, they went to get cotton candy. then back to the carousel.</em></p><p>Tim: <em>found it.  wow, cotton candy faceplant</em>.</p><p>It’s not even funny but Dick stares at the text anyway.  Usually Red Robin is terse and businesslike, like a knock-off version of Bruce.  And <em>Dick’s</em> been straightforwardly professional tonight, too, too tired to be anything else. </p><p>This is out-of-character: deliberately unprofessional.</p><p>And it’s definitely <em>deliberate</em>.</p><p>Dick doesn’t <em>want</em> to second-guess Tim’s first amicable overture in what feels like <em>years</em>.  He catches himself doing it anyway.  When Tim was fourteen, the <em>faceplant</em> comment might have been spontaneous - just a wry observation, maybe with a quick grin, sharing the joke.  But Tim’s older now, and a lot more serious.  So this casual remark is actually <em>calculated</em>.</p><p>So what is this? An attempt to recapture an old camaraderie? Or is Tim covering up a bad mood with a chipper attitude? Or is this another manifestation of Tim’s concern, a test to gauge Dick’s mood?</p><p>Argh.  Or maybe Tim is just being <em>friendly</em>, Grayson.</p><p>Dick: <em>i think janie just grabbed a candy bar without paying for it. while submerged in cotton candy.</em></p><p>Tim: <em>truly a worthy heir to the Cobblepot criminal empire</em></p><p>Dick fast-forwards through what feels like hours of Janie and her babysitter circling around on the carousel.  Finally, they head for the rollercoaster.  He texts.</p><p>Dick: <em>they get off the carousel at 3:47. looks like theyre heading over to rollercoaster</em></p><p>Tim: <em>ahem. look at the carousel again</em></p><p>Dick: <em>no thanks. they get off at 3:47</em></p><p>Tim: <em>*sherlock holmes voice* you see but you do not observe</em></p><p>Okaaaay.  So apparently Dick’s missed something.  But what?  He stifles a yawn.  Tim texts again.</p><p>Tim: <em>seriously, look at 3:42, tell me I’m not imagining this</em></p><p>He checks the footage again.  On the carousel, around and around and then - hang on.  A little girl in suspiciously-similar clothes gets on at 3:42, accompanied by a man in a maroon jacket, and then…no <em>way</em>.</p><p>Dick: <em>why are there two janie cobblepots????</em></p><p>Tim: <em>it’s a fake Janie!!  they switched</em></p><p>Dick: <em>what.</em></p><p>Tim: <em>babysitter goes off with fake Janie, real Janie goes with red jacket guy</em></p><p>Dick: <em>its a maroon jacket not red</em></p><p>Tim: <em>whatever mr color expert</em></p><p>Dick: <em>its a completely different color!! also more importantly WHY is there a fAKE JANIE</em></p><p>Tim: <em>I have no idea!!</em></p><p>Okay, this is insane and kind of hilarious.</p><p>Dick: <em>did the babysitter not notice??</em></p><p>Tim: <em>I don’t know!</em></p><p>Dick: <em>wait so does the OTHER kid get kidnapped??</em></p><p>Tim:<em> yes! i mean, technically i guess they both do? kidnapping is at 4:48 on camera 12</em></p><p>Sure enough, when Dick skips ahead to 4:48, there’s another, more official-looking kidnapping.  The kidnapper stays mostly off-camera, but the babysitter looks terrified and Dick knows from what Tim told him earlier that a few people spotted the masked kidnapper brandishing a gun.</p><p>This is <em>wild</em>.  </p><p>Dick spins in his chair a bit, trying to work out the logic.  </p><p>It might not be that mysterious.  Maybe Oswald just wanted a <em>different </em>kid to be the victim of the more dramatic kidnapping - worried about scaring his actual niece, or worried in case the gun went off.  Oswald’s hilariously overprotective for a crime boss.</p><p>But where on earth did Fake-Janie <em>come</em> from?  Did Oswald borrow Fake-Janie from a minion?  Did they hold <em>auditions</em>?  This is potentially <em>adorable</em>.  Wanted: cherubic six-year-old girl, must be able to wail on cue?  Was the babysitter in on it, or they go full Parent Trap and trick her too, not just the bystanders? Did they <em>rehearse</em>?  Did Fake-Janie have to learn to mimic Real-Janie’s cotton candy eating habits?  This case couldn’t be better if it -</p><p>Wait.</p><p>Wait just a <em>minute</em>.  </p><p>If they’re watching the footage <em>together</em>, why did Tim already know when the second kidnapping was?</p><p>For <em>God’s</em> sake.  </p><p>* * *</p><p>Dick: <em>you set me up, you watched this already</em></p><p>Suspicious silence.  Busted.</p><p>Dick could <em>kill</em> him.  Screw being charitable.  It’s late at night, and he’s exhausted, and Tim has been pretending to need help just to have an excuse to monitor Dick’s mental state.  Dick is <em>fine</em>.</p><p>Tim: <em>okay so technically</em></p><p>Dick: <em>have u solved this already?</em></p><p>Tim: <em>no</em></p><p>Dick: <em>but u have a theory</em></p><p>Tim: <em>if I tell you my theory it’ll predispose you. better to get unbiased opinion.</em></p><p>Dick knows better than to trust this.  Tim has almost <em>certainly</em> already solved this case.  And, okay, yes, the case of the Multiple Janie Cobblepots is entertaining.  But it is not actually <em>important</em>.  Tim roped him into this because he <em>knew</em> Dick would feel obliged if he asked for help, and it wasn’t even necessary, and all this time Dick could have been doing <em>actual work</em>.</p><p>Dick usually calls Tim in for patrols on Fridays, but he didn’t <em>this</em> Friday, because he didn’t want to be stared at and analyzed, and he knew, he <em>knew</em> that Tim would be like this.  He knows Tim <em>means</em> well, but the hovering is insanely irritating.</p><p>Dick: <em>tim im REALLY tired, do u actually need help with this</em></p><p>Long silence.</p><p>Tim: <em>I can finish up on my own</em></p><p>Dick: <em>why dont u do that</em></p><p>He regrets the terse message as soon as he sends it, but not enough to send another, politer text.  He’ll make it up to Tim next week, or basically any day other than today.  He could invite Tim to patrol with Batman and Robin on Sunday, maybe.  He’ll think of something.</p><p>Anyway.  Since the kidnapping case was apparently unnecessary, Dick’s done for the night.  Time to get some actual sleep.</p><p>He peels himself out of the Batman costume, wincing.  Even after a year, he still hasn’t gotten used to the <em>weight</em> of it.  The Nightwing costume was a lot less bulky.  And Dick’s various injuries don’t help the problem.</p><p>… It’s fine.</p><p>He’s back in Dick Grayson clothes and halfway up to the Penthouse before he remembers about parent-teacher night. </p><p>The Red Letter Day planner is still in the Batbunker.</p><p>So Dick heads back down again.</p><p>* * *</p><p>As soon as he gets hold of the planner, Dick makes a note of parent-teacher night - hah, remembered - and mentally awards himself 100 points of good-Damian-management.  Not forgetting parent-teacher night may be a low bar to clear, but hey: still doing better than anybody else in the family.  Bruce will need to be reminded, and Tim won’t ever know.</p><p>If only - Dick thinks longingly, not for the first time - Tim’s evil powers of memory could be used for <em>good</em>.  For remembering parent-teacher nights or Damian’s school assignments, instead of keeping an unsettlingly-accurate tally of every bad day Dick’s ever had.  Bruce is constantly out of town, but Tim is <em>here</em>.  <em>He</em> could be helping manage Damian’s calendar.  But no, Tim has stayed committed to an apparent life-goal of interacting with only Damian-free spaces.</p><p>It’s a lost cause, Dick knows.  Tim on his own is calm, clever, and methodical; Damian on his own is fierce and determined; but together they’re a garbage fire.  And to be fair, looking after Damian isn’t really Tim’s responsibility.  Dick’s Batman.  Looking after Robin is always gonna be Batman’s job.  It’s just, there’s so <em>much</em>, and Bruce is no help, and if Tim’s gonna be nosy <em>anyway</em>…</p><p>Argh.  Buck up, Grayson.</p><p>He flips the pages back to double-check what he has to do <em>this</em> month.  Even though Robin has mostly taken over his planner, this month is a big one for the Titans.  A circled <em>D,</em> for Donna, on the date of her son's birthday - he needs to call and warn her he might not be able to make it if things get out of hand in Gotham.  <em>That</em> one, Dick didn’t actually need the reminder.</p><p>Two more Titans initials this month: W for Wally and ARSE for Roy.  Best friends, current and former.</p><p>The circled W is on the first day of the month. Dick frowns at it until he finally remembers: that’s when he used to start figuring out where he and Wally would vacation for their annual trip.  He must have marked it in years ago, because this isn’t happening - they couldn’t take the trip last year (Bruce was dead, and Dick was Batman), and they won’t be able to take it this year either (Bruce is alive, and Dick is… still Batman).  Wally doesn’t expect it, so there’s nothing to do here.  Dick crosses it out with a pang.</p><p>Meanwhile, a carefully written <em>ARSE</em> for Arsenal marks his daughter’s birthday near the end of the month.  It’s a stupid joke, but when Roy gave up Speedy and took on Arsenal, he suggested the abbreviation, and looking at it gives Dick a stab of nostalgia.  Roy was Dick’s best friend, but it’s been two years since their fight when the Outsiders imploded, and...well.  Dick won’t be attending Lian’s birthday.  He wouldn’t have the time anyway.  But the reminder’s an important one.  He needs to mail a gift, send a card.</p><p>He’s about to put the planner away when he sees it.  The problem.</p><p>* * *</p><p>There, on a random Wednesday right in the middle of the month:</p><p>An R, circled several times and underlined.</p><p>And nothing else.</p><p>And of course Dick doesn’t remember what it was.</p><p>R is for Robin, but Robin <em>what</em>? </p><p>* * *</p><p>Sleep-deprived, Dick stares at the R for way too long, and curses his past self for not providing an explanation.   A school thing or an out-of-school thing? </p><p>He thought he’d finally gotten all of Damian’s school events straight in his mind.  The circling and underlining suggests <em>important</em>, which means it’s extra frustrating that Dick forgot.</p><p>If Dick were a better brother, he would remember what was going on with Damian <em>without</em> having to outsource it all to a planner.  If he were a better Batman… no, no, stop it.  Damian doesn’t know about the planner, which means he <em>believes</em> Dick remembers the stuff he should remember.  Almost as good.  </p><p>And this particular Wednesday is more than a week away, which gives Dick plenty of time to work out whatever he’s forgotten and make sure Bruce is there for it (if it’s <em>really</em> important) or that at least <em>Dick</em> is (if it’s not worth yet another fight with Bruce).</p><p>He closes the planner, yawns, stretches.  It’s two in the morning, and last night’s patrol was exhausting.  His ribs are still complaining.  His wrist aches.  On his bedside table, the unopened letter glares accusingly at him.</p><p>He’ll solve the case of Damian’s mysterious event tomorrow.</p><p>* * *</p><p>
  <strong>NYC. NOW.</strong>
</p><p>He shouldn’t be here.</p><p>Why did Dick <em>ever</em> think it was a good idea to come to New York?</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Canon: Dick’s poor memory for dates is from Nightwing 80 (where he forgets Babs’ birthday even though they are, uh, dating - awkward!), Dick and Wally’s annual trip is from Flash Plus, the big fights with Roy are in Outsiders (Dick gets fired as team leader and then quits the team), and Dick and Tim argue about maroon vs. red because in Tim’s first training session they <i>also</i> disagree about this color definition (Dick gives him a memory challenge while watching a carousel), and it amuses me.  Bruce not showing up for Damian’s birthday is stolen from nu52 canon.</p><p>This story takes place a few months after Bruce’s return from the “dead.”</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. School, Clark, Damian, Tim</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <strong>GOTHAM. MONDAY. SCHOOL. 9 DAYS AGO.</strong>
</p><p>He does <em>not</em> solve the case the next day.  Or the next.</p><p>It’s not a school thing: there are no scheduled events next week.</p><p>“None at all?” he asks, wedging the phone between his shoulder and ear as he tries to tweeze glass shards out of the Batsuit on the worktable.  “Not, I don’t know, an after-school club, or…?”</p><p>The receptionist sounds a bit amused.  “That would be rather difficult during spring break, Mr. Wayne.  School will not be in session that week.”</p><p><em>Please don’t call me Mr. Wayne,</em> he wants to say, but honestly, he doesn’t mind if forgot-his-own-kid’s-spring-break ends up in the annals of Brucie Wayne’s antics, not Dick Grayson’s.</p><p>He hangs up.  Resists the urge to bang his head against the worktable.  Spring break was <em>not</em> marked in the planner.  Unless Dick circled the Wednesday to remind himself that it was spring break?</p><p>But that’s not really what the planner is for.  The planner is for <em>personal</em> stuff.  Emotional stuff.  All the stuff Damian likes to pretend he’s too superior for.</p><p>So, not school.  Important date in Damian’s life, maybe?  Dick mentally goes through possibilities, but comes up empty.  His birthday is already past.  So is the day Dick gave him the Robin costume.  The day Damian first came to the Manor was in the <em>fall</em>, not the spring, and anyway he’s pretty sure that’s marked on the planner.  Which leaves what?</p><p>A friend’s birthday?  A friend’s birthday <em>party</em>?  A friend’s spring break trip?</p><p>Damian would deny <em>having</em> friends, but he’s increasingly close to Jon Kent.  And Dick has Jon’s dad’s phone number.</p><p>He calls Clark.</p><p>* * *</p><p>
  <strong>GOTHAM. MONDAY. CLARK.</strong>
</p><p>When he calls, he can hear the tell-tale buffeting of wind that means Clark is taking the call in the air.  “To what do I owe the pleasure, Batman?” he says.  </p><p>There’s a warm amusement in the way he says <em>Batman</em>, like it’s a joke they’re sharing.  Dick’s glad to talk to Clark.  Taking on the cowl has wreaked havoc with a lot of Dick’s friendships, but thankfully, not this one - Clark still treats him the same, with the fond pride of a slightly distant uncle, unintimidated by the grim mystique of the cowl.  But of course he’s unintimidated: he’s <em>Superman</em>.  If <em>Bruce</em> doesn’t scare him, Dick never will.</p><p>You wouldn’t think a costume would change so much, but the Batman costume is uniquely… off-putting.  On the rare occasions Dick <em>has</em> gotten out of Gotham long enough for a team-up, even people he’s known for years have turned awkward and wary when faced with the emotionless cowl, with the gloom of the black cape.</p><p>“I have kind of a weird question,” Dick admits.  “I think Damian might’ve had plans with Jon next week, but I forgot to write it down.  Do you know if Jon is planning to do anything next week?  Is it his birthday or anything?  You know me and birthdays…”</p><p>Clark chuckles.  “I still remember the year when you panicked that you’d forgotten Bruce’s!”</p><p>“Clark,” Dick whines, though mostly for show.  “I was <em>eleven</em>.”</p><p>It’s a good memory, actually, painful but also sweet.  He’d been at the Manor for a while by then, but by some childish logic he no longer remembers - maybe a Robin mishap? - he’d become convinced Bruce would send him back to juvie unless he could find the perfect gift in the twelve hours remaining of Bruce’s birthday.  He’d appealed to Clark for help, and Clark told him Bruce wouldn’t care but still gamely helped him tear through the Metropolis stores, dissatisfied with everything, until finally Bruce called - in retrospect, probably in a panic - and Clark insisted on flying a teary Dick home to, as he put it, “your very worried father.”</p><p>Once Clark left, Dick confessed the whole sorry story to Bruce.  Bruce had crouched down, put steady hands on his shoulders. <em><span class="u">You</span> are a gift,</em> he said.  <em>I’m so glad to have you here, Dick</em>.  <em>I don’t need anything else from you, understand?</em></p><p>Like most memories from his Robin days, the memory conjures a weird mix of nostalgia and pain and wistfulness.  After Bruce fired him, all the memories that had come before seemed tainted, like Bruce had merely been biding his time, hiding his disgust until he was so sick of Dick he finally snapped.  Now, after years of being reconciled, Dick knows it wasn’t that simple.  Knows Bruce <em>does</em> care.  Bruce eventually apologized, more or less.  He chose Dick to take his place as Batman, not once but twice.  But the ugly way their partnership broke still casts a shadow over even the best of those memories, even now.</p><p>It’s so much easier to talk with Clark, who was there for him during Robin and after Robin, who offered him Nightwing - a piece of his own history - when Dick was at his lowest.  </p><p>“We <em>are</em> planning something for next week, but unfortunately I can’t invite Damian,” Clark says apologetically.  “It’s Jon’s spring break, and Lois and I are going to take him to visit her mother.  But if Damian wants to visit the weekend after, he’s more than welcome.” Even through the phone, Dick can hear the smile.  “Jon is quite fond of him already.”</p><p>“Damian says that Jon is ‘not entirely intolerable,’” Dick reports.  The phrasing still cracks him up.  “In case you weren’t sure, that’s practically a love letter from Dami.”</p><p>Thank God for Jon Kent.  After Dami came back from the Titans after barely thirty-six hours, declaring he had no need for friendships with mere <em>children</em> - and Wonder Girl called a few hours after to inform Dick, tactfully but firmly, that any further weekends with Robin would <em>not</em> be welcome - Dick had begun to despair of finding company for the kid.  And then there was Jon Kent, Miracle Child.</p><p>“He’s welcome to visit the farm, too,” Clark offers.  “Conner’s doing something with his friends next week, so I know Ma and Pa will probably be a bit lonely - they wouldn’t mind the company.  You could visit, too.  They’d love to see you.”</p><p>The thought is <em>really</em> tempting. But he’s Batman.  Batman doesn’t take breaks.  And besides, Dick still needs to solve the Damian-puzzle - it was good to talk to Clark, but unfortunately not very helpful.</p><p>They say goodbye, Clark admonishing him to look after himself.  And Dick says he will.</p><p>Babs would make a skeptical noise, but he means it. Dick <em>tries</em> to look after himself, it’s not like he’s trying to run himself ragged, it’s just that he has to look after Gotham and Damian first.  They’re his responsibility, two unappreciated treasures full of sharp edges and knives and tempered violence and secret affection.  </p><p>Full of <em>secrets</em>, period.</p><p>* * *</p><p>Some days it feels like his world has entirely shrunk to Gotham and Damian, Damian and Gotham.  That’s not the fault of the cowl.  That’s definitely not the fault of the kid.  But it’s an isolating feeling.  </p><p>It doesn’t help that with the exhaustion of being a full-time Batman and a pseudo-parent to Damian, he hasn’t seen a lot of his friends outside of rare team-ups in… over a year.</p><p>He’d thought that would change, when Bruce came back.  That Bruce would take the city back, take more of an interest in Damian.  And Dick knows he should be grateful for what <em>has</em> changed.  Tiring as his days are, they’re still a blessed relief compared to the blur of misery and exhaustion and grief that defined the awful nine months when Bruce was … <em>gone</em>. </p><p>Ever since Tim came back, Red Robin has taken over patrols in Crime Alley and its environs, leaving Dick and Damian more time for the rest of Gotham.  And even though Bruce travels a lot, he <em>does</em> visit frequently, and he usually offers to go patrolling with Damian.</p><p>Dick <em>should</em> use those nights off to go visit friends or relax, instead of what he <em>actually</em> does, pacing up and down in the Batbunker or Cave second-guessing all the things that could go wrong.  He knows, he <em>knows</em>, as Babs keeps telling him, that he can’t actually micro-manage every aspect of Bruce’s relationship with Damian, that they’ll eventually have to work it out themselves, but the thing is, Damian is <em>so vulnerable</em>, and Bruce is <em>so freaking bad at this, </em>that Dick finds it desperately difficult to detach. </p><p>Even when Bruce is doing okay, Dick’s always waiting for the other shoe to drop.</p><p>* * *</p><p>
  <strong>GOTHAM. TUESDAY. DAMIAN. 8 DAYS AGO.</strong>
</p><p>On their next patrol, he casually brings up spring break several times, hoping Damian will spontaneously volunteer the whatever-it-is.  No such luck.  </p><p>He’s tempted to just <em>ask</em>, but knows from experience that’ll do no good: if it’s anything important <em>at all</em>, Damian will pretend not to understand.  Plus Dick will have admitted that he forgot, which he’d really like to avoid.  Batman may not be omniscient, but he should <em>appear</em> omniscient if at all possible.  At least to insecure Robins.</p><p>He scrutinizes the emphatic little R on next Wednesday in the vague hope it’ll spark a memory, but nada.</p><p>Not school.  Not something with Jon.  </p><p>He could let it drop.</p><p>But it’s something <em>important</em>.  Dick sometimes marks in little activities that he thinks Damian will enjoy, special museum exhibitions or park festivals or petting zoos, things that are optional rather than essential, but this is underlined and circled, he didn’t even bother to write what it <em>was</em>, because he was sure he would remember.</p><p>Damian’s had to weather far, far too many disappointments.  This is <em>not</em> going to be another one.</p><p><em>Think, </em>Grayson.</p><p>* * *</p><p>
  <strong>GOTHAM. WEDNESDAY. TIM. 7 DAYS AGO.</strong>
</p><p>Tim.  Tim is great at the picky details.  Tim might know.</p><p>Except, of course, Tim <em>won’t</em> know, because even though Tim has been back in Gotham for months, he and Damian still barely interact.  The only reason he’d know is if Dick mentioned it to him, which he probably didn’t because Tim and <em>Dick</em> don’t interact much either.  Or rather, they do, but they mostly interact over comms, and occasionally in the field - strict <em>no-real-names</em> territory.  They don’t have much time for chit-chat, and even if they did, Dick’s mostly given up on trying to talk to Tim about Damian.  </p><p>Still, Dick’s getting desperate, and there’s the barest possible chance Dick mentioned Damian’s mysterious <em>something</em> to him back when he was still trying harder to encourage them to get along.  Or that Bruce said something.  </p><p>If the whatever-it-is was ever so much as mentioned in his presence, Tim will know.  Tim’s nosy like that.</p><p>Which means it’s time to make another call.  It’s business hours, which means Tim’s office number.</p><p>… because Tim has an <em>office number</em>.  That is a thing that he has.  The last time Dick invited Tim over for a movie night, he got into a snipe-fest with the eleven-year-old and then left early in a huff… excusing the early disappearance by claiming he’d just remembered an early morning meeting the next day.  It was the weirdest possible mix of immature and scarily mature.  Dick still has no idea what he even <em>does</em> all day.</p><p>Dick <em>could</em> wait for after business hours.  He tries not to call Tim at the office, in case he’s busy with … whatever he does.</p><p>But cravenly, Dick would rather have a monitored line and not deal with any lingering complaints Tim might have about vigilante stuff.  On Saturday, Dick attempted a (disastrous) joint patrol, and Robin and Red Robin promptly got into a squabble.  And before <em>that</em>, Dick blew Tim off about the Cobblepot case, which he still feels was basically justified but was admittedly kinda rude.  </p><p>A monitored line will keep them on strictly Dick-and-Tim terms instead of Batman-and-Red-Robin.  Batman and Red Robin are… well… allies.  But that’s more of a work-in-progress than Dick would prefer.  </p><p>Dick and Tim, on the other hand, are hopefully still friends.</p><p>“Tam Fox speaking.”</p><p>“Hi Tam, it’s Dick Grayson - can you put me through to Tim?”</p><p>“Sure thing - he just got back from the press conference. Hang on and I’ll transfer you.”</p><p>It will never stop being weird that Tim has someone <em>answering his phone calls</em>.</p><p>“Hi, Dick?  Everything okay?” </p><p>There’s an undertone of genuine worry there, and Dick kicks himself.  He doesn’t usually call Tim’s office, and in their line of work, everything out of the ordinary is a potential cause for alarm.  No wonder Tim’s anxious.</p><p>“Sorry,” he says.  “It’s not urgent and nothing’s wrong.  I can call back if you’re busy.”</p><p>“Nah, I’m good.” Hint of a smile in Tim’s voice.  “Tam does all the work around here, I just sit around.  Except for today when I had to go to a press conference.  Have I mentioned I hate press conferences? And also Vicki Vale?”</p><p>“Maybe once or twice,” Dick says.  A vast understatement.  “Got a minute?”</p><p>“Sure. What’s the occasion? Should I get my cell?”</p><p>Translation: does this need to be on a secure line?</p><p>“No, it won’t take long.  I have kind of a weird question and I need your help.”</p><p>“Very cryptic. I like it.  Okay, what’s the question?”</p><p>Dick hesitates.  It’s a pretty innocuous question but he feels awkward anyway.  It used to be <em>easy</em> to talk to Tim, and sometimes still is, but Damian is a sore point, even when they <em>haven’t</em> recently squabbled.  Tim still gets passive-aggressively aggrieved when he feels like Dick is talking about Damian too much.  And to be honest, Dick doesn’t always feel like soothing his ruffled feathers, even when he knows he should.  </p><p>“It’s about Damian.  Can you think of any important events he might have going on next week?  That I might have mentioned to you? Like a class trip, or something?”</p><p>“I’m sorry, are <em>you</em> asking <em>me</em> what Damian’s schedule is like?  Which of us is the beloved older brother and who’s the ‘pitiful interloper’ again?”</p><p>Dick pinches his nose.  “Just answer the question.”</p><p>Tim has an exact and unforgiving memory - ‘pitiful interloper’ is clearly a direct quote.  Most likely from the patrol last weekend, although it might date all the way back to the movie night.  Dick <em>gets</em> that Damian can be annoying - he really, <em>really</em> does - but Tim’s tendency to hold grudges is not helping matters.</p><p>Tim sighs.  “Sorry.  It’s spring break next week, that’s probably what you’re thinking of.”</p><p>“Thanks.”</p><p>Of course <em>Tim</em> knows that, even though Dick is the one who manages all Damian’s school stuff.  He feels an ancient pang of jealousy, completely out of place nowadays, from the time when Tim was new and it felt like the little kid with the scary-sharp memory was everything Bruce had ever wanted in a partner.</p><p>“Hey, so, since it’s spring break - is the brat gonna be out of town?  <em>Please</em> tell me we can send him out of town.  Spring break is the perfect time for all good little demon brats to stretch their wings and seek blood in other climes, don’t you think?”</p><p>“Tim…”</p><p>“<em>Di-ick</em>,” Tim whines, like he’s a kid again.  “I realize you and the brat are basically conjoined twins at this point, but seriously, you could survive a <em>temporary</em> separation, couldn’t you?  Can’t he go visit the Kents or something?"</p><p>Dick thinks about explaining about Damian’s mysterious <em>thing</em> next week, how it might mean that he <em>shouldn’t</em> be far from Dick.  About how Damian is a small child with feelings that can get hurt, a child who <em>bleeds</em> for acceptance and recognition and gets far too little of it.  About how Damian’s bad behavior is not unrelated to the fact that he’s suffered an astonishing amount for his young age, and he needs their unwavering support if he’s ever going to improve.</p><p>But he doesn’t say any of that, because 1) he’s said it before, and Tim doesn’t care, and 2) the Kents aren’t an option anyway.</p><p>“Jon’s busy that week.  And can you not call Damian a brat?”</p><p>“Ugh, fine.  Okay, how about this?”  Sound of typing.  “The brat - the <em>kid</em> likes art, right?  There’s an art festival in NYC Monday through Friday next week.  A bunch of different museums are participating.”</p><p>“So?”</p><p>“So, spring break, perfect time to take a trip, right? Plus, art!  Very interesting, very educational, yes?  This says students are welcome, no official age requirement.  He could go for the first half of the week. Or even the whole week.”</p><p>Oh boy.  “Tim-”</p><p>“I get it, I get it, I know what you’re thinking - but who’s gonna babysit him?  I admit it’s an issue.  But it’s not an impossible one.  Steph’s gonna be busy and Bruce will be in Belarus but I was talking to Gar and he said that Ars--sorry, that <em>Roy</em> might -”</p><p>“Not Roy,” Dick says, and immediately regrets it because Tim makes an inquisitive noise.  </p><p>The inquisitive noise means that, no matter what Dick says next, within twenty-four hours Tim will have extensively canvassed the current Titans and will probably know more about Dick’s fight with Roy than <em>Dick</em> does.  Scratch that: will <em>definitely</em> know more, because Tim’s friends include the current Wonder Girl, who is close to Donna, who talks to Roy and has been trying to talk to <em>Dick</em> about Roy.  </p><p>Whatever.  It’s fine.  There’s nothing for Tim to find, really - Dick and Roy aren’t <em>exactly</em> fighting, but they also haven’t really talked since the Outsiders broke up two years ago, and Roy apparently spends all his time with <em>Jason</em> now, so <em>no</em>, and also - </p><p>“Wait,” Dick says, “hold up, Bruce will be in <em>Belarus</em>?  I thought he was coming home on Saturday.  I thought he was finishing up the Baghdad thing on Friday and then coming home for next week.”</p><p>“He was, yeah, but there’s some stuff going on in Belarus, so he might take a look at that too.  We talked yesterday.  There’s an… unusual economic opportunity that he’s going to look into.”  A smuggling ring, Dick mentally translates.  “So he’ll fly out of Baghdad Sunday morning if everything goes smoothly, and he’ll be in Minsk until the next Saturday.”</p><p><em>Great</em>.  Dick was prepared to fight to get Bruce to spend quality time with the kid outside the mask… but he was expecting Bruce to at least be in <em>town</em>.  And it’s just like Bruce to change his plans and not update Dick.</p><p>It’s mildly annoying that Tim rated an update when Dick apparently didn’t, but it’s actually a good sign.  Both Bruce and Tim have been insisting that everything is fine, but Dick knows that <em>something</em> went down between them after Tim arrested Boomerang, and for a while Dick was unpleasantly stuck as messenger boy while they refused to talk to each other.  Bruce: <em>Tell Red Robin that the Pythons are likely lying low rather than truly defeated.  </em>Tim: <em>Tell Bruce to stay out of my cases.  </em>And so on.</p><p>But it sounds like they’ve worked it out, or more likely, Bruce has refused to apologize, and Tim has given up on <em>extracting</em> an apology for whatever stupid thing Bruce said to him.  Dick may not<em> technically</em> know what happened, but he knows Tim and he knows Bruce and he knows that Boomerang had a narrow escape that night, and he’d bet every dollar he has that Bruce skipped the obvious right response of <em>Good job, that must have been difficult</em>, and went straight to the patented Bruce route of <em>I will now express my anxiety about you via intense personal criticism</em>.</p><p>“Speaking of next week, do <em>you</em> have plans yet?” Tim asks, casual, but Dick knows Tim in <em>ready-to-pounce</em> mode.  “Because I was wondering -”</p><p>“Oh, look at the time,” Dick says.  “Sorry, I gotta -”</p><p>Tim is snorting with laughter. “Look at the <em>time</em>?  Weak, Dick. Very weak.”</p><p>Busted.  “Sorry, Timmy.  I just - I can’t even think about next week right now, you know? I’ve got to track down a lead from the Marroni case, and Damian’s got a science project due tomorrow… ”  </p><p>Not to mention figure out what he’s supposed to be doing with Damian next Wednesday, and figure out how to get Bruce to come back for it… Dick doesn’t have the energy to also tackle whatever <em>Tim</em> thinks he should be doing.  Unless it’s important.  But if Tim really needed help with a case he’d text.  </p><p>Unless he really, <em>really</em> needed help, in which case he would try to handle it himself, because <em>Tim</em>.  Uh oh. </p><p>“I can definitely help out if you really need me, though,” Dick backpedals. If he works on the Marroni lead tomorrow - except, wait, tomorrow was supposed to be meeting the informants at the Iceberg Lounge and - well, never mind, he’ll work it out somehow.  “Is the - the case giving you trouble?”</p><p>He tries to remember if he knows what Red Robin is working on.  He’s still pretty sure the Cobblepot case was just an excuse to spy on Dick, which means it’s gotta be something else.  Was there something about cocaine traffickers?  Or was that last month?</p><p>Tim clears his throat meaningfully.  “The briefcase is fine.”</p><p><em>Shit</em>.  “Right, yeah, of course.”</p><p>“Dick,” Tim says, in a tone that both means <em>I-am-now-concerned-about-you</em> and <em>stalking-might-be-imminent</em> in that inimitable Tim fashion.  “Are you okay?”</p><p>He has got to head this off, or Tim will start trying to micromanage Dick’s whole next week - or <em>month</em> - as well as calling all his ex-friends.  And possibly attempting to ship Damian off to South America or something.  “I’m really fine, Timmy.  Sorry, it’s been a bit of a day.  I’ll call you later, okay?”</p><p>* * *</p><p>Maybe it’s time to just give up on solving the Wednesday-puzzle and focus on making sure that Bruce is <em>here</em>.  If Tim doesn’t know about anything going on with Damian, there’s no way Bruce will - sad though it is, Tim is still a better bet than Bruce for this sort of thing, even though Tim is a petty seventeen-year-old who still regularly squabbles with Damian whenever they’re in the same room.</p><p>Tim’s the opposite of Dick when it comes to sweating the small stuff.  Ask Tim to flirt with a girl or comfort a crying friend, and he’s an awkward disaster, but his head is a restless hive of dates and times and data, and unlike Bruce, he actually pays attention to the social stuff.  Tim may not reliably remember his <em>own</em> birthday, but he keeps track of other people’s occasions with a stalkerish intensity.</p><p>That’s not always a good thing.  Dick once made the mistake of telling Tim about his bad childhood run-in with Two-Face, that it was a few days after Thanksgiving, and every year since, every time Dick runs into him on That Day, Tim spends the time unconvincingly faking casual conversation while also watching Dick like a hawk.  Which is…  singularly unhelpful, as well as somewhat embarrassing.</p><p>… <em>Every</em> year since is a lie.  Tim hasn’t done it <em>every</em> year.  Last year, Bruce was dead, and Tim was gone.  Last year, Dick spent Thanksgiving alone with Damian and Alfred, and then spent all of what he had begun to think of as Two-Face Day being secretly maudlin that he wasn’t being tactlessly observed for signs of mental breakdown.</p><p>But that was last year.  This year won’t be like that.  <em>This</em> year, last <em>week</em>, in fact, on the anniversary of Dick’s apartment’s untimely explosion, Red Robin suddenly needed Dick to help him double-check equipment that did not actually need to be double-checked, and spent the whole time giving him sideways glances which Tim probably thought were subtle.  Which was as dumb and unhelpful as it had ever been, but Dick was so relieved they were back to normal he found the whole experience weirdly soothing.</p><p>Of course, then Tim <em>also</em> decided to hover on the anniversary of Blockbuster’s death, which was much more annoying.  Dick told Tim about Two-Face and he told Tim about the apartment but he did <em>not</em> tell Tim about Blockbuster, which means that whatever Tim knows, he knows from <em>snooping</em>.</p><p>Unless, of course, Tim was <em>actually</em> having trouble with the Cobblepot case.  But that’s unlikely.  Although... Janie disappeared at an <em>amusement</em> park.  The Joker hasn’t been heard from in a while.</p><p>It’s almost certainly nothing.  Oswald’s the obvious culprit, and this isn’t exactly the Joker’s usual M.O. - not flashy enough.  Besides, when in doubt, Tim being a snoop is always the most likely option.</p><p>But even though Dick<em> knows</em> it’s irrational, he can’t totally shake the prickle of anxiety.  What if it <em>was</em> serious and Dick blew it off and now Tim doesn’t want to bring it up again?  Should he text just in case?  Or would Tim take that as being too pushy?</p><p>Argh.  Talk about <em>looking</em> for things to worry about.  It was an open-and-shut case.  Tim’ll be fine.</p><p>* * *</p><p>Okay.  </p><p>Make sure Dami finishes his science project, make sure Jason’s not killing anyone.</p><p>And most importantly - make sure Bruce is actually in the same time zone as his kid when Damian’s mysterious Wednesday rolls around.</p><p>Dick’s got this.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Canon: Clark gives Dick his new vigilante name in Nightwing Year One; Dick’s bitterness about getting fired is from Batman 416; and Babs getting frustrated with Dick when she thinks he’s overworking himself is from the Nightwing comics.  Also canon: Dick dropped Damian off at the Tower in hopes of getting him to bond with Wonder Girl’s Titans, but they were unenthusiastic and Damian was even less enthusiastic; and Tim and Bruce had a big fight after Tim set Captain Boomerang up to be killed and only refrained from going through with it - saving Boomerang’s life - at the last minute.  (Dick, OTOH, told Tim he’d done the right thing.)</p><p>Damian’s interest in art (aww) has been stolen from nu52, along with Jon Kent, Clark and Lois’s young son-from-another-dimension (and Damian’s best friend).  Jon lives with Clark and Lois in Metropolis.  Conner Kent, the other Superboy, lives with Ma and Pa Kent in Smallville.</p><p>Next up: Bruce!<br/><i>Minsk.  Bruce will be in Minsk next week.  Dick can’t take Damian to Minsk, which means Bruce will have to change his plans.</i></p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Bruce, Tim</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <strong>GOTHAM. THURSDAY. BRUCE. 6 DAYS AGO.</strong>
</p>
<p>Minsk.  Bruce will be in Minsk next week.  Dick can’t take Damian to Minsk - there’s still a significant League of Assassins presence there, and the risk of an attack or kidnapping attempt is too great - which means Bruce will have to change his plans.</p>
<p>Dick calls Bruce on the viewscreen in the Cave, not the comms, since he’d like to see his face when they talk.  Bruce is in Baghdad, right now.  Dick can vaguely see a shadowy hotel room behind him, shabby enough that it’s clearly been rented by Matches Malone and not Brucie Wayne.  It’s not Matches that Dick is talking to, though; Bruce is mostly suited up, even though he’s got a nasty gash on his arm and another on his cheek, and it’s obvious he means to head out for patrol as soon as he can get out of the conversation with Dick.</p>
<p>Bruce refuses to change his plans.</p>
<p>“I’ve already spoken to Tim about this,” he says stiffly, like he thinks that's gonna get him out of it.</p>
<p>“I know,” Dick says.  “That’s how I know, because he told me.  <em>He</em> told me, not you.”  He pauses pointedly enough for Bruce to look a bit chagrined - good - and then lets it go.  “Look, Bruce - I know you’ve got a lot on your plate, but next week is Damian’s spring break and I was thinking maybe if you came back - ”</p>
<p>“Damian will be fine,” Bruce says dismissively, and then visibly rethinks the statement.  “Is something wrong with Damian?”</p>
<p>“Not exactly,” Dick hedges.  “I just thought he might like it if you were here.”</p>
<p>“If he has concerns about his schoolwork, he can address them with me on the phone.”</p>
<p>“Look, I was thinking - the Kents are going on a family trip,” Dick says.  </p>
<p>The idea’s been vaguely percolating in his mind ever since Tim mentioned the art festival thing in New York.  It’s looking likely that Dick won’t be able to figure out why Damian might care about next Wednesday, which is frustrating.  But assuming the day has <em>some</em> kind of emotional significance (Talia-related, maybe? wait, when is <em>Talia’s</em> birthday?)… the point is to show Damian that they care about him.</p>
<p>Or at least that Bruce can be bothered to <em>show up </em>for him, once in a while.  Dick will settle for showing up.</p>
<p>“What if we all went to New York next week?  A family outing.  There’s an art thing that Damian would love, you and I can take a break, Tim can take some time off work -”</p>
<p>Bruce’s mouth is uncompromising.  “As I said, I have already spoken to Tim -”</p>
<p>“Bruce, I promise you - I <em>promise you</em> - that Tim could use some time off work.”   Not to mention some time with Bruce outside the masks.  A break would be good for <em>all</em> of them.  Dick could take Damian to the art festival, Bruce and Tim could go sightseeing, and they could all spend the evenings together.  Dick would enjoy showing Damian around.  Bruce and Tim could start talking <em>to</em> each other instead of <em>at</em> each other.  Tim and Damian might actually learn to see each other as <em>people</em> instead of rivals or obstacles or nuisances.  “Look, Bruce, you remember that cruise? You and me and Tim, how much fun that was?  Damian’s never had anything like that.  <em>Nothing</em>, Bruce.”</p>
<p>“<em>As I said</em>, my plans are made,” Bruce says gruffly.  “I will be in Minsk. I have already contacted several informants there.  Whether Tim takes time off work is up to him.  Do <em>not</em> put Damian on a cruise ship without adequate supervision.”</p>
<p>“<em>Bruce</em>.”</p>
<p>“I’m willing to consider a family … excursion…  at some later date,” Bruce concedes at last.  “Perhaps in the summer.  We can discuss it.  We will need to ensure Gotham is adequately protected...”  He looks briefly contemplative before going gruff again.  “However, my plans for next week are set. I leave Gotham to you. Batman out.”</p>
<p><em>Won</em>-der-ful.</p>
<p>* * *</p>
<p>
  <strong>GOTHAM. FRIDAY. TIM. 5 DAYS AGO.</strong>
</p>
<p>You know what?</p>
<p>He’s gonna do this without Bruce.  Dick and Damian and Tim can go to New York by themselves.  Dick is a grown adult, he’s led the JLA, he’s <em>Batman</em>, he can manage a family trip without his dad organizing it.</p>
<p>And maybe with some help from Tim.  He waits until Friday evening - after work hours - before calling Tim’s cell.</p>
<p>“Hey,” Tim says. “You’ve got a case?”</p>
<p>He doesn’t, actually, which is unusual.  Dick’s been calling Tim in fairly regularly to help on investigations, about once a week.  Most of the time, Damian and Dick work together -<em> Batman and Robin</em>, after all - but there are some cases that no eleven-year-old, no matter <em>how</em> well-trained, should be anywhere near.  The ugly ones: sex crimes, traffickers, anything involving J. Gordon Jr.  If he can, he tries to let the cases wait until Fridays, so Tim’s not out too late on work nights.  Fridays is also nice because it allows Dick to tell Damian the reason he’s not allowed on Friday patrols is because he needs to finish his homework first, rather than the real <em>you’re-a-kid</em> explanation, which Damian would find insulting.</p>
<p>“Actually,” Dick says, “I was wondering if you could email me that thing you were talking about. The art festival next week.”</p>
<p>“Sure, no problem,” Tim says, clearly on automatic.  Dick waits.  The next question is quiet and delighted - Dick can hear the grin in it.  “Wait, seriously?  You’ll send Damian?”</p>
<p>“No promises,” Dick says quickly.  “But I’m gonna look into it.”</p>
<p>“I kinda thought you were gonna blow me off,” Tim admits, but there’s still a smile in his voice.  Dick’s done something right.  “Listen, about Arsenal -”</p>
<p>Oh God.  “No.  Whatever you’re going to suggest, Tim, <em>no</em>.”</p>
<p>“No, but listen - Arsenal has a kid, right?  And she’s having a birthday, right? So I talked to Cassie, and <em>she</em> talked to Donna, and she says that <em>Donna</em> says that Arsenal might be up for babysitting Damian in New York next week - and taking him to the art festival - if <em>you</em> promise to do something for his kid’s birthday in two-and-a-<em>half</em> weeks - which is right when the Arkham renovations start, so admittedly not <em>great</em> timing - but whatever goes wrong probably won’t go wrong right away, and I was thinking maybe you could take the whole week off for <em>that</em> and also to see that whole crowd, ‘cause Donna says they all want to see you and catch up and everything, and I could watch Gotham for you - as Red Robin, I mean - and that way <em>you</em> could - ”</p>
<p>“Tim.  Tim!”  But Dick’s laughing despite himself.  “Ease off a little, yeah?  Let me look into it.”</p>
<p>“Yeah, okay.”  But Tim is clearly on a roll. “Hey, do you want - for next week, I mean - I can look up hotels near the art festival for Arsenal and Damian?  Just in case? I bet I can find one that’ll meet even the brat’s - the <em>kid’s</em>, the <em>kid’s</em>, I’m sorry - exacting specifications.  It’ll cost the moon, probably, but whatever.  He likes vegetarian, right?  Does Arsenal eat vegetarian?”</p>
<p>“<em>Tim</em>.”</p>
<p>“Sorry!  It’s just… it might be cool if it worked out, you know?  Arsenal’s a dad <em>and</em> a superhero, he could definitely handle Damian.  I know you worry about the kid, but, like, he’d have fun, right?  And he could hang out in New York and see art and stuff… So next week Damian could go to New York with Arsenal, and we could stay here.  And it’d be just you and me in Gotham.  It’s been a while.”</p>
<p>Dick swallows.  Tim’s calmed down enough to affect a more casual interest in this whole thing, but Dick knows him, and there’s a yearning note in his voice that’s extremely guilt-inducing.</p>
<p>“Tim, don’t get your hopes up, okay? I seriously don’t think the Arsenal thing will work out.  But … I’ll look into everything and call you back later, okay?”</p>
<p>“Yeah, absolutely,” Tim says.  Backtracks.  “I mean, it’s not a big deal, you know, if it doesn’t … it was just an idea.”</p>
<p>They used to spend a <em>lot</em> more time together.  In and of costume.  When he was Nightwing, Dick often saw Tim more than he saw <em>Bruce</em>.  Stakeouts in Blüdhaven, mostly, and team-ups in Gotham, but sometimes pizza nights, and once, not long after the quake, when they were all a bit shaky and Tim was having some sort of issue with his dad that Dick no longer remembers, Tim showed up every single night for a week and slept on Dick’s couch, and they watched all five seasons of <em>The Brady Bunch, </em>and afterward they spent the month assigning <em>Brady </em>characters to everyone they met, mostly perps, until Babs told them to knock it off and then Bruce also told them to knock it off, but more… <em>forcefully</em>.</p>
<p>They were close, is the point.  Not as close as he is to Babs, or to the original Titans - Tim’s always been mature, but he <em>is</em> younger, and that had felt like a bigger deal back then.  But they were close in a different way.  Tim was <em>Robin</em> - he was re-living Dick’s life, in a weird way, putting up with Bruce, trying to lead his own team, dealing with his own fears of failure.  Dick could never explain Bruce to the Titans, or the Titans to Bruce, not in a way that they understood; with Tim he didn’t have to.  There were parts of Dick’s life that Tim just <em>understood</em>, without needing explanations, that no one else did.  And he likes to think that he was a good sounding board for Tim, too, a listening ear for a shy kid that had sometimes trouble breaking out of his self-imposed shell of secrecy and restraint.</p>
<p>They were close.</p>
<p>But now Dick’s responsible for Damian, and Damian needs a lot of supervision, and Tim and Damian are oil and water.  And Tim and Bruce are having issues, and Tim and <em>Steph</em> are having issues, and Babs is still mad at Tim on Dick’s behalf on account of the sudden eight-month-disappearance thing (even though Dick’s <em>told</em> her to drop it), and Tim’s meta friends aren’t allowed in Gotham city limits, and Tim’s high school friends are presumably still in high school and not in corporate jobs… </p>
<p>Dick’s not <em>worried</em> about him, exactly, he knows Tim can handle himself.  </p>
<p>But he knows, in a way that he doesn’t often let himself think about because he can only shoulder so much, that Tim’s probably having a hard time, stuck in Wayne Enterprises and isolated from his friends.  Tim <em>chose</em> to take on Wayne Enterprises, like Dick chose to take on Batman and then Damian, but Dick knows perfectly well that choosing to shoulder a responsibility doesn’t make it any less exhausting.  </p>
<p>Sometimes, he resents Tim for not helping more with Damian.  But if he’s honest with himself, he knows <em>he’s</em> not helping <em>Tim</em>, either.  They’re not helping each other, not the way they should be.</p>
<p>Other than patrols, they haven’t spent any one-on-one time together in… God.  Dick’s not even sure how long.</p>
<p>Next week, Dick needs to be with Damian.  The just-the-two-of-us thing that Tim’s envisioning, Damian off in New York, Dick and Tim patrolling in Gotham… the picture of it tugs at Dick too, the self-indulgent part of him that’s hopelessly nostalgic, that’s secretly always wanting to turn back the clock to Babs-as-Batgirl, Tim-in-Blüdhaven, the people they were shadowed over the people they are now.  But the idea isn’t even slightly realistic.  Dick’s barely talked to Roy in ages, the idea of just dumping Damian on him without warning is ludicrous.  And cruel to the kid, to make him spend what’s likely a meaningful day with a stranger.</p>
<p>(It’s not Talia’s birthday, though, which is a relief.  Dick went ahead and asked Damian, and it turns out that her birthday is in May.  Dick put it in the planner and next to the circled R for Robin, he wrote <em>Talia’s b-day</em>, very carefully, because he does in fact learn from mistakes.)</p>
<p>Dick has a bad feeling Damian’s meaningful day might refer to a League milestone.  Damian’s mentioned a few and they’re universally horrifying, both what Damian was subjected to and what he was forced to <em>do</em>.  Dick doesn’t like to press for more details on what Damian reluctantly confides, which means his picture of Dami’s time before joining them is shadowy and full of fangs.  The Trial.  The Year of Blood.  It might be the day of Damian’s first murder.  Or the first time he was forced to <em>watch</em> someone murdered.  </p>
<p>He doesn’t know for sure.  But it would explain why Dick didn’t feel up to writing it down.  And it <em>might</em> be just his imagination, or the news that Bruce won’t be home for spring break after all… but Damian’s become increasingly distant, increasingly hostile, in just the last few days.  Which might be just a coincidence… or it might mean that old demons are circling, ready to pounce on a kid who’s still way too young for everything he’s suffered.  Everything he’s <em>suffering</em>.</p>
<p>Damian’s past is a cloak of darkness that Dick can’t penetrate, can’t begin to imagine.  All he can do is stay close, and love him, and hope one day the kid truly understands that he has a real family now, a family he can trust.</p>
<p>A trip to New York, just the three of them… might be really, really nice.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Canon: Tim regularly shows up for stakeouts in Blüdhaven (and to hang out) in the Nightwing comic and in Young Justice, and Bruce, Dick, and Tim go on a family-bonding cruise after Blüdhaven explodes (although the second part of the trip is just Dick and Tim because Bruce has *checks notes* isolated himself in a cave to complete the hallucination-inducing Thogal Ritual to… uh… recenter himself, I guess?)  Dick deliberately leaving Damian behind when he goes to do more dangerous/creepy missions is mentioned in the Batman comics, and Red Robin helps out Batman in the Black Mirror arc, where Dick has to defeat - among other enemies - James Gordon Jr., Gordon’s creepy psychopath son.</p>
<p>Dick and Tim’s in-jokes about the Brady Bunch, Tim’s tense relationship with Steph, and Babs locking Tim out of the computers while he’s abroad (!) are all from Red Robin, and Dick’s nostalgia for the past is an issue between him and Babs in, IIRC, Birds of Prey (she gets fed up with his “remember when” comments about her time as Batgirl).</p>
<p>Next up: Jason!<br/><i>He just needs someone to watch Gotham for him, right? Jason is… not ideal. At all.</i></p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Jason</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <strong>GOTHAM.  SATURDAY. JASON. 4 DAYS AGO.</strong>
</p><p>He just needs someone to watch Gotham for him, right?</p><p>Jason is… not ideal.</p><p>At all.</p><p>But he is 1) in Gotham, 2) not a meta, 3) way more sane and significantly less murderous than last year, now that the Pit-rage has calmed down, and 4) family, which makes Gotham kind of <em>his</em> responsibility too, if you think about it.  </p><p>Bruce will hate it.  But Bruce is in Belarus.  Trip now, ask for forgiveness later.</p><p>So: Jason.  </p><p>Go in person, or call?</p><p>Dick usually goes in person to check-up on Jason, because it’s easier to tell if somebody has snapped and gone crazy-murderous again if you see them in person.  Not that Dick’s really <em>that</em> worried anymore.  He just prefers to go in person on Sundays, see Jason’s non-green eyes, and know, absolutely and for sure, that he’s not about to discover that Damian’s been shot, or that Tim has.  </p><p>Likes to reassure himself that <em>if</em> Jason goes off the deep end again, the first person who runs into him will be <em>Dick</em>, who can <em>handle</em> him.  </p><p>Call it a nervous habit.</p><p>Jason bristles at it, and maybe he’s right to be offended.  </p><p>In theory, Crazy Jason is a thing of <em>last</em> year, not this year. </p><p>* * *</p><p>So here’s the deal with Jason:</p><p><em>Last</em> year, the GCPD put Jason in Blackgate, then Tim broke him out for inexplicable stupid reasons, and Jason promptly killed about two dozen people, shot Damian, and stabbed Tim.  And then later he was indirectly responsible for Damian’s back getting broken, and Dick put him in Arkham.  </p><p><em>This</em> year, Jason broke out of Arkham in early January, along with Two-Face and Scarecrow and the Joker and Boomerang and Freeze, and Jason disappeared for a while in the confusion, and they were all braced for another murder spree.  </p><p>But it didn’t happen.</p><p>Instead, in February, Jason reappeared in Gotham, and had some kind of run-in with Tim in which he was apparently <em>incredibly</em> charming, because he managed to convince Tim that </p><p>1) he had spent January learning to meditate (?!), and </p><p>2) this had made him sane again, and</p><p>3) he was now a good option for an ally.</p><p>Which.  None of that had seemed very likely to <em>Dick</em>.</p><p>But Tim was pretty sure, and Babs backed him up.  Not a typical thing nowadays, because although both Babs and Tim are pretty easygoing and even-tempered as a rule, when they <em>do</em> get their backs up about something, they’re both passive-aggressive grudge-holders, and they’ve been mad at each other since Tim came back.</p><p>But when it came to Jason, they buried the hatchet and doubled-teamed Dick over it, and that by itself was enough to make Dick feel he should take the truce idea seriously.</p><p>First Tim called, which was unexpected enough because that had been a bit after the movie night argument, and for a while Tim had dropped out of sight, sulky and unresponsive.  But then there he was again, urgent on the phone in the way that always takes Dick back to kid-Tim, tiny and stubborn and impossible to shake off, like an extremely opinionated barnacle:</p><p>Tim: <em>Jason’s <span class="u">really</span> different, Dick.  I’m not saying he’s <span class="u">completely</span> different, he’s still mad at Bruce and he’s still kinda… I mean, he’s still mad about stuff.  But the Pit madness was really messing with his head and now it’s not.  As much.  I don’t think.  I mean, like, there are still <span class="u">issues</span>, obviously, but - Dick, I <span class="u">know</span> what you’re thinking, but this is <span class="u">not</span> like last year, okay?  I’m right about this.  If you don’t want to listen to me, will you at least talk to Babs?  She talked to him too.</em></p><p>Dick had hung up the phone having vivid and unpleasant flashbacks to Tim’s <em>last</em> Jason-rehabilitation attempt, the one that had ended in dozens of dead bodies and Tim nearly bleeding to death.</p><p>But Babs was just as insistent:</p><p>Babs: <em>Dick, I know you’ve had bad experiences, but trust <span class="u">me</span>, okay?  You know me. I’m cautious.  I’m not saying trust him completely, but I think the risk is worth it.  And - no offense, Dick - I’m going to bring this up to Bruce either way.  This is a heads up.  I’m not asking you for permission.  Jason deserves a chance.  And Tim’s talked to him, and he agrees with me, and you know Tim’s not exactly Jason’s biggest fan.  If I were you, I’d talk to Tim about it.  See what he says.</em></p><p>So Dick swallowed his own doubts and talked Bruce around, and it’s now been two months.</p><p>And it seems to be true.</p><p>Which is... <em>good</em>, obviously.</p><p>Strange.  Hard to get used to.  But good.</p><p>Jason’s still got the guns, but back in February, he promised not to kill anyone if they gave him his own corner of Gotham - and he <em>hasn’t</em>.  He’s still more violent than Dick would prefer, but no more so than Huntress was, back in the day.  He still bristles at any mention of Bruce, he’s still suspicious of Dick, he’s still rude about Damian and Tim - but it’s all bark and no bite.  Two weeks ago, when Killer Croc slipped out of Jason’s territory, Jason actually called Dick to warn him about it, and then showed up mid-battle to help take Croc down.</p><p>Leaving him in charge of Gotham would be a big gesture of trust, but… it’s not entirely undeserved.  Jason targets the right people and he fights the right way.  Dick <em>does</em> trust the new Jason.  He wouldn’t be thinking about this plan if he didn’t.</p><p>But getting-along-wise, things are still tricky, and Jason is touchy about Dick appearing in “his” territory, and Dick is asking for a favor.  Calling might put Jason in a better mood.</p><p>And he does actually have Jason’s phone number, from when Jason called to complain about Damian’s Prove-I-Am-the-True-Robin thing.</p><p>He calls in the early evening, from the Batbunker.</p><p>“For fuck’s sake, <em>I’m fine</em>,” Jason says, instead of <em>hello</em>.  “It was a two-second thing, I am fine <em>now</em>, I did not need your help, I <em>do</em> not need your help, everything is <em>perfectly</em> under control, and I’m sorting it <em>myself</em>, got it?  Oh, and also?  Fuck you.”</p><p>He hangs up.</p><p>Well, that’s … ominous.</p><p>* * *</p><p>Dick reminds himself that Jason has been protecting his own corner of Gotham since February with no issues, that kid-Jason’s language was also… colorful, that profanity doesn’t <em>necessarily</em> mean a new mental breakdown, and that Pit-mad Jason had a kind of growly undertone to his voice that Dick’s <em>pretty</em> sure he didn’t hear this time.</p><p>Just in case, though, he struggles into the especially bulky version of the Batman costume, the one with the bullet-proof vest, and checks his supply of rebreathers, just in case he has to head out to fight in a hurry, before he calls back.</p><p>* * *</p><p>Just like before, Jason picks up before the second ring, but he must still not be checking his caller ID, because he doesn’t say hello <em>this</em> time, either.</p><p>“Look, I don’t <em>do</em> this computer shit, okay?  And also, hey, don’t know if you noticed this, but I also <em>died</em> for a while there.  So excuse me if I’m not up-to-date on all the <em>lingo</em>.  And <em>anyway</em>, it was probably the computer’s fault, it’s a shitty computer, everything I <em>own</em> is shit, not all of us were born with a silver -”</p><p>“Jason?” Dick says.</p><p>Short silence.</p><p>“Wait, <em>Dick</em>?” Jason says.  “Why the fuck are <em>you</em> calling me?”</p><p>“Who did you think I was?”</p><p>“None of your fucking business,” Jason says.</p><p>“Were you talking to Tim?” Dick asks, because <em>silver spoon</em> plus <em>computer help</em> is pretty suggestive.</p><p>Jason must realize this too, because rather than trying to deny it again he says grumpily: “The Replacement is not as fucking funny as he thinks he is, and you can tell him I said so.”</p><p>Right.  Okay.  So Tim and Jason are calling each other now.  That’s… new.</p><p>Jason nearly killing Tim was <em>last</em> year’s Jason, Dick reminds himself.  And anyway, if Jason went off the rails again, Tim would <em>say </em>something this time, instead of going off on his own.  Probably.  </p><p>And anyway, Jason can’t stab him over the <em>phone</em>.</p><p>So this is fine, it is completely fine, although it’s a little weird that Tim didn’t mention… whatever this is.</p><p>“What’s he helping you with?” Dick asks.</p><p>“None of your fucking business.  And he is <em>not</em> helping me.  I sorted it <em>myself</em>, and he was extremely fucking condescending and no help at <em>all</em>, and you can tell him I said <em>that</em>, too.  What do you <em>want</em>, Golden Boy?”</p><p>If Jason were in the midst of a Lazarus Pit meltdown, he wouldn’t be asking Tim for computer help.  And if whatever he was up to was sinister, Tim wouldn’t be helping him with it.  Probably.</p><p>(Although Tim has been overly optimistic about Jason Todd before.)</p><p>It’s <em>probably</em> fine.  No, it <em>is </em>fine.  Dick trusts Jason.  It makes no sense to give the Red Hood control of Gotham for a week if he <em>doesn’t</em> trust Jason.  That would be irresponsible.</p><p>… He’s uncomfortably aware that <em>really wanting</em> to go on this trip is maybe affecting his calculations about Jason Todd’s trustworthiness here.</p><p>“I wanted to ask you for a favor,” Dick says at last.</p><p>“Uh <em>huh</em>.  Okay.  Are you dying or something?” Jason says.  “‘Cause the Replacement gave me a whole lecture about how I had to be on my best behavior with you, and then he refused to explain why.”</p><p>Huh?  “He <em>what</em>?  Just now?”</p><p>“What? No.  Like two weeks ago.  We traded.  I was incredibly fucking polite to you last Sunday - and I’m <em>also</em> gonna be polite to you tomorrow, you’re welcome, I threw that in for free - and in exchange I get computer help.  What were you dying of?  Or are you <em>still</em> dying?  The Replacement wasn’t exactly forthcoming about the details, and now he’s pretending I misunderstood, which I fucking did <em>not</em>.”</p><p>Dick’s <em>not</em> dying, obviously.  Not sleeping much, admittedly, and the injuries are - not <em>great</em>, but Dick’s fine, <em>everything’s</em> fine, or it will be once Dick has worked out these trip plans, and anyway Tim doesn’t know about the sleep-deprivation <em>or</em> the injuries, so it’s completely unclear what would suddenly send him into -</p><p>Wait.  </p><p>Two weeks ago. Of course.  The Blockbuster stuff.  Dick resists the urge to bang his head against the wall.  “I’m fine, Jason.”</p><p>“If you weren’t dying,” Jason says, “what <em>was</em> going on?  Mid-life crisis? Mental breakdown?  Bad hair day?  Did somebody <em>else</em> die?  Or, wait, did the Bat-Brat kill somebody and you were having a crisis about <em>that</em>?”</p><p>“<em>Nothing</em> was going on.  I was busy with a case the other week, that’s all.”  And he <em>shouldn’t</em> ask this, but: “What exactly did Tim say to you?”</p><p>“That I shouldn’t bother a hair on your perfect head, and a bunch of other insufferable stuff.  Kid’s fucking annoying.  Wait, so what was the case and why did it freak out the Replacement?  Not that I <em>care</em>, mind you, ‘cause I don’t.  I just need to know if I should be making fun of <em>you</em> or making fun of <em>him</em>.  Did you sort it already or should I shoot somebody?”</p><p>“I sorted it out,” Dick says shortly.</p><p>Tim is a pest.  A well-intentioned pest, but a <em>pest</em>.  Blockbuster and the apartment were <em>two years ago</em>.  It’s one thing to hover, it’s another thing to involve <em>Jason Todd</em> in <em>any</em> capacity.  No doubt Tim didn’t mean for it to go this far - Dick himself is very painfully familiar with Jason’s ability to be highly perceptive at the worst possible times - but this wouldn’t be happening if Tim had just <em>kept his mouth shut</em>.</p><p>The problem with Tim is that he has only two settings: radio silent and sulking, and <em>obsessively</em> over-involved.  </p><p>The meddling is something that Dick did <em>not</em> miss.</p><p>But no.  That’s not true, not <em>really</em>.  Tim’s nosy and fussy and sometimes infuriating, but having him back is a gift.  Having <em>all</em> of them back is a gift - Bruce no longer dead, Tim no longer gone, Jason no longer murderous.  </p><p>(In truth, it’s such a relief that Dick can’t entirely trust it, still wary that he’ll blink and discover he’s dreamed it, like if he thinks about it too hard he’ll discover it’s not true.  Sometimes, at the breakfast table, he feels jumpy and superstitious about mentioning the others, and when he does, there’s always that brief half-second when he expects Alfred and Damian to frown at him, to tell him he’s confused. <em>Master Richard, are you feeling quite well?  Master Bruce perished in the incident with Darkseid</em>.  Or: <em>Don’t be absurd, Grayson, Drake’s been gone for months.  And good riddance, <span class="u">I</span> say</em>.)</p><p>If Dick had known, a year ago, that he’d get them all back - that one day, his biggest problems would be Bruce’s standoffishness and Tim’s fussiness and Jason’s snide remarks - he’d have gone to his knees and sobbed with relief.</p><p>“You’re seriously not gonna tell me what you were dying of?” Jason says, because he is secretly <em>twelve</em>.</p><p>Argh.</p><p><em>He is your brother and you love him</em>, Dick reminds himself.  <em>No longer crazy.  A <span class="u">good</span> thing.  A miracle, even.  Joy in Mudville.</em></p><p>It’s always been easier to be grateful for the <em>concept</em> of Alive Jason Todd than the <em>reality</em> of Alive Jason Todd.</p><p>“I’m <em>really</em> fine,” Dick says.</p><p>“I’m hurt that you don’t wanna tell me what you’re dying of, Dickiebird.  And here I thought we were <em>friends</em>.  It’s consumption, right?  Ministering to the sick again?  Or, wait, did you fling yourself on a hand grenade?  Nail yourself to a cross and forget how to get down?”</p><p>Oh, for God’s sake.  “Jason -”</p><p>“Fine, fine,” Jason huffs.  “Don’t tell me.  Well, since you’re dying anyway -”</p><p>“<em>Jason</em>.”</p><p>“- can I have your bike? Do you still have it?  You’re not using it, right?”</p><p>“Yes, I have the bike, <em>no</em>, you can’t have it,” Dick says.  “Get your own.”</p><p>“But you’re not even using it!  Here I thought we were <em>friends</em>.  Don’t worry, I can compromise.  We can <em>share</em> the bike. Fifty-fifty.”</p><p>“<em>No</em>.”</p><p>He hasn’t ridden the Ducati in over a year - Batman can’t easily ride a motorcycle (see: <em>cape</em>), and Dick Grayson doesn’t really have leisure time - but it’s <em>his</em>, it’s from <em>before</em>, from his <em>real</em> life, when he had friends and his <em>own</em> costume and actual free time and - although this is a guilty thought, and selfish - could just go and <em>do</em> things without having to secure babysitting help first, when he wasn’t single-handedly responsible for trying to manage the fallout of Bruce’s complete emotional cluelessness toward his <em>own son</em>.  Dick <em>wants</em> to be there for Damian, he cares about Damian, it’s not like he <em>doesn’t</em>, but this would all be a lot less stressful if Dick wasn’t very aware that if <em>he</em> doesn’t come up with a solution to Damian’s impending whatever-it-is, <em>nobody</em> will.</p><p>Anyway.  It’s increasingly clear it might be dumb to keep the bike, but he doesn’t really want to let go of it either, and either way he’s <em>definitely</em> never gonna give it to <em>Jason</em>.  Jason <em>already</em> has Roy and Kory.</p><p>Though Dick doesn’t officially know about that.</p><p>Jason’s friendship with Kory and Roy - with Starfire and Arsenal - is a 100% through-the-grapevine thing.  Dick heard about it from Donna, who presumably heard about it from Kory.  But Jason’s never even brought it up.  And - Kory and Roy haven’t really talked to Dick, not <em>really</em>, since the thing with the Outsiders imploded two years ago.  So it’s not like it’s surprising <em>they</em> didn’t say anything either.</p><p>(Just like Bruce didn’t say anything, all those years ago.)</p><p>(Fight with somebody for <em>five seconds</em>, and oh look, there’s Jason Todd.)</p><p>Dick’s been trying not to speculate about how the Jason and Kory and Roy friendship works, because he <em>knows</em> it’s stupid, and it’s none of his business anyway, and it’s not like Kory and Roy <em>belong</em> to Dick, they’re independent people and they’re entitled to have any friends they want, even if that friend is <em>Jason Todd</em>.  And even though things with Kory and Roy didn’t end on <em>great</em> terms, it’s not like they were really fighting <em>either</em>, so Dick’s <em>almost</em> sure they’re not holding any grudges.</p><p>But his mind keeps throwing up ridiculous paranoid fantasies anyway: all of them getting drunk together or something, and Kory complaining about how Dick was a lousy boyfriend, and Jason about how he was a lousy <em>brother</em>, and Roy about how he was a lousy <em>friend</em>, and even though Kory at minimum definitely wouldn’t do that it’s something Dick can’t entirely get out of his head.</p><p>More likely, they don’t talk about him at all because he’s just that superfluous now.</p><p>Life <em>sucks</em> and so does self-pity.</p><p>“I’d look so much better on that bike than you would,” Jason is saying, needling.  “I mean, let’s face it, Dickiebird.  I wore your first costume better.  I wore your <em>other</em> costume better.  I -”</p><p>“Go to <em>hell</em>,” Dick says, and bites his tongue.  “I mean -”</p><p>“<em>There</em> you are,” Jason says with satisfaction.  Clearly pleased he’s managed to provoke Dick into snapping at him.</p><p>Jason has some kind of vendetta against <em>politeness</em>.</p><p>“Look,” Jason says, “again, I seriously don’t care what your problems are, but will you at least tell me if it’s something <em>I</em> did?  So I can apologize, or <em>you</em> can apologize, or you can kick me in the teeth or whatever?”</p><p>“It’s nothing you did,” Dick says.</p><p>“So there <em>is</em> something.”</p><p>Oh, for God’s sake.  “There is, actually.  Look, Jason, the reason I called…”</p><p>He explains about the trip.</p><p>* * *</p><p>Jason says no.</p><p>Or, to be more precise, Jason says, “You want to put the <em>Replacement</em> and the <em>Bat-Brat</em> in a shitty hotel room in that shitty city because you think it will <em>relax</em> them?  Have you lost your entire mind, Dickiebird?  Have you finally cracked?  Is this the end?  Do we need to put <em>you</em> in Arkham, now?”</p><p>“New York is a nice city,” Dick says.  “I liked it.  You probably would’ve liked it better if you’d spent more time sightseeing and less time -” <em>harassing me</em>, he manages not to say.  “And I <em>said</em> I was sorry about the Arkham thing.”</p><p>He <em>is</em> sorry about the Arkham thing, bitterly sorry, in a way he can’t put into words and which Jason wouldn’t welcome hearing anyway.</p><p>Sure enough: “You don’t <em>sound</em> sorry, Golden Boy.”</p><p>It’s not like Dick <em>wanted</em> to put Jason in Arkham, with Two-Face and the Joker and God knows what else, and if he’d known Jason would one day be <em>sane</em> again, he wouldn’t have.  But the trouble is that although Dick <em>sort of</em> understood last year that Jason Todd hyped-up-on-Pit-madness and Jason Todd <em>not</em>-hyped-up-on-Pit-madness were two very different people, he didn’t <em>really</em> understand it, not the way he does now.  So last year, after Crazy Jason almost killed Damian - <em>again</em> - Dick helped arrest him, and encouraged Gordon to put him in Arkham, because he clearly wasn’t <em>stable</em>, and Blackgate didn’t seem like a good bet.</p><p>And, okay, Arkham Penitentiary is not <em>an ideal environment</em>, Dick <em>gets</em> that, but by that time Damian’s spine was broken and Dick thought he was never gonna walk again, just like Babs except this time <em>all Dick’s fault</em>, and Tim was in the wind somewhere and Jason was shouting accusations and Gotham was falling apart, and -</p><p>Anyway. It’s done. No point second-guessing <em>now</em>.</p><p>“If you ask me,” Jason Todd says, “you should cancel the train tickets and invest in ACE bandages.”</p><p>“I <em>didn’t</em> ask you,” Dick says.  “Look, <em>all</em> I’m asking is if you could just keep an eye on Gotham from Monday to Friday, in case there’s an emergency, and text me if -”</p><p>“No fucking way.  I’ve already <em>got</em> plans for next week.”</p><p>“Okay, but you don’t have plans for every<em> night</em> next week, do you?”</p><p>“I don’t know what to tell you, Dickiebird, I’m a busy person with a full dance card.”</p><p>Dick tries to decide whether he believes this.  It doesn’t <em>sound</em> likely.  “Well, maybe if you tell me when you’re gonna be free, we can come up with a compromise.”</p><p>“Dickie, I feel like we’re having a communication problem here. What part of <em>I have plans</em> are you having trouble with?”</p><p>Argh. “I’m not asking you to cancel your plans. All I’m asking is if you could do me a <em>small</em> favor, and keep an eye on things next week while I -“</p><p>“<em>Not</em> that it’s any of your business, but I’m gonna be out of town.  And not that <em>this</em> is any of your business <em>either</em>, but the Replacement’s supposed to be <em>here</em>, ‘cause he’s checking in on the Pythons for me on Tuesday when <em>I’m</em> not here.  ‘Cause <em>I</em> plan <em>ahead</em> for this kind of shit.”</p><p>“Jason -”</p><p>“Look, I’m gonna give you a <em>better</em> plan, okay?  Forget the New York thing.  Take the Bat-Brat to the zoo, ‘cause he’s basically a wild animal anyway and he can bond with all the <em>other</em> critters, right?  And then maybe take the <em>Replacement</em> to <em>therapy</em>, ‘cause <em>somebody</em> fucking should, I don’t know why the fuck nobody <em>has</em>, and then, I dunno, take him to the movies or something.  He’s a geek, right?  Take him to some geek movie.  <em>Not</em> on Tuesday, and then he can still do my Python thing, and that way if the Pythons are stockpiling C4 we’ll find out before they blow up half of Tricorner.  There you go, <em>that’s</em> a good plan.  I’m a freaking genius.  Why the fuck do you want to take the brats to New <em>York</em>?”</p><p>Jason’s advice is outwardly reasonable but secretly terrible.  The zoo is a bad plan: Damian hates the Gotham City Zoo because of something to do with the size of the cheetah enclosure.  Therapy is either a jibe or a shockingly enlightened recommendation, but either way, it’s a <em>worse</em> plan: Dick made the mistake of suggesting therapy during one of the big fights last year, and Tim took it as a personal insult.  So bringing up therapy <em>now</em> would be a great way to start a <em>new</em> fight with Tim, and although <em>geek movie</em> isn’t <em>completely</em> awful, taking <em>Tim</em> to a movie during <em>Damian’s</em> spring break would be a great way to start a fight with <em>Damian</em>.</p><p>But Jason <em>probably</em> doesn’t know that.</p><p>Probably.</p><p>Either way, there’s no point starting an argument.</p><p>“Why do you want to take the brats <em>anywhere</em>?” Jason asks.</p><p>Dick hesitates.  <em>I’m worried about Damian</em> isn’t something he really wants to share with Jason, no matter how reformed he seems now.  </p><p>“It’s Damian’s spring break this week,” he says instead.</p><p>“And you want to force him to spend time with the Replacement, <em>why</em>?”</p><p>Again, this is kind of hard to answer.  <em>I think Tim misses me</em> sounds incredibly stuck-up even in Dick’s head, and <em>I miss him</em> makes it sound like he’s <em>gone</em>, and both are more revealing than he’d really like to share with Jason Todd, who can be alarmingly intuitive.</p><p>“Look, the <em>Kents</em> are going on a family trip,” he hedges. “It’s a normal thing to do, all right?”</p><p>“You’re breaking my heart here, Dickiebird.  You wanna go on a family trip and not invite <em>me</em>?”</p><p>Argh.  “You know perfectly well what I mean.  Do you <em>want</em> to go on a trip with me?  With Tim and Damian?”</p><p>“Hell no. I don’t do kids, get me?”</p><p>“Well, then -“</p><p>“Look, <em>one</em>, I’ve already got plans, so I can’t help with this anyway, you’ll have to get someone else.  But <em>two</em>, you <em>shouldn’t</em> get someone else, this is a terrible idea and you’re an idiot.  Maybe your worst idea <em>ever</em>, and I’m including the ponytail <em>and</em> your terrible male model phase.”</p><p>“It wasn’t a <em>phase</em>, it was half-an-hour, and I didn’t know she was gonna - never mind.  Look, Tim and Damian don’t spend a lot of time together. It’ll be good for them.”</p><p>“Good for what, their <em>bloodletting</em> skills?  Dick, what part of <em>they hate each other</em> is making you think you should lock ‘em in a confined space for a week? Are you gonna equip the hotel room with <em>handcuffs</em>?  Are you gonna have a cage match and sell tickets? What exactly is your plan here?”</p><p>Tim and Damian aren’t <em>that</em> bad.</p><p>Usually.</p><p>… Okay, <em>sometimes</em> they’re that bad, but it’s none of Jason’s business, and how does he even know they don’t like each other <em>anyway</em>?</p><p>Actually, that’s kinda worrisome.</p><p>“What makes you think they don’t like each other?” Dick asks carefully.</p><p>Jason <em>might</em> just be fishing again - Jason will do that sometimes, throw out a provocative claim and wait for someone to agree or argue with him - but this doesn’t really sound like fishing.  Jason <em>knows</em> Tim and Damian don’t like each other.  <em>How</em>?  Jason’s interacted with Damian and Tim separately, but never together.</p><p>Is this just more of Jason’s unnervingly-accurate radar for conflict, or is he spying on them again or something?</p><p>“What do you mean, why do <em>I</em> know they don’t like each other,” Jason says, unhelpful as usual.  “Why don’t <em>you </em>know?  I barely <em>know</em> the brats and I know.  Did you fail to notice the waves of animosity?  The fields of disdain?  The mountains of murderous intent?  Are you going blind, deaf, and dumb?  Did the cowl - ”</p><p>“I’m aware things aren’t <em>ideal</em>,” Dick cuts him off, because otherwise Jason will riff forever.  “What I’m asking is how <em>you</em> know.”</p><p>“I’m a freaking genius, that’s how I know,” Jason says.  “Maybe, lemme think, it coulda been the time your demon baby tried to murder me with a crowbar, and then told me the Replacement was his <em>next</em> target.  Maybe <em>that</em> was my first clue that things weren’t all flowers and daisies in Robin-and-Ex-Robin-ville.  Or, wait, too subtle for you?  Maybe it was when I called the Replacement to ask him about the Pythons thing and he whined for a literal eon about how he had to hang out with the Bat-Brat last weekend and the kid’s a crime against humanity?  Could it have been <em>that</em>?  Hard to say, Dickiebird, you tell me.  Or, I dunno, maybe that’s too simple.  You sound kinda suspicious.  Maybe I’ve made a deal with an evil telepath, and <em>that’s</em> how I know.   Maybe my good buddy Grood and me are gonna -“</p><p>“<em>Grodd</em>,” Dick says.  “Gorilla <em>Grodd</em>.”</p><p>“Whatever.” </p><p>Jason’s sensitive to anything he perceives as unfair suspicion, so Dick should probably start placating him, but instead he’s trying, and failing, not to be mildly unnerved by the fact that Tim has apparently relaxed his guard enough with Jason now to complain about Damian to <em>him</em>.  Does Tim just complain about Damian to <em>random</em> people now?</p><p>“Look,” Dick says, “Tim and Damian are - are still getting to know each other -“</p><p>“Are you seriously confused about this?  I’m not actually joking, Dickiebird.  They do not like each other.  Did you forget where the Bat-Brat was plotting all our murders like a month ago?”</p><p>Damian’s Prove-I-am-the-True-Robin thing was ages ago, but Jason is apparently gonna let it go somewhere around the fifth of <em>never</em>.  “Look, he was <em>not</em> plotting murder, okay?  He just wasn’t. I told you this before.  He’s <em>insecure</em>, and he was trying to <em>prove</em> himself, but the only thing he wanted was a trophy, <em>not </em>to murder anyone.”</p><p>“He tried to <em>hit me</em> with a <em>crowbar</em>,” Jason says.</p><p>Jason’s been on about the crowbar thing for approximately eleventy thousand years, and Dick <em>gets</em> it, it wasn’t okay, but the thing is, Damian couldn’t come close to hurting Jason, not on his <em>best</em> day.  Whereas Jason has <em>actually</em> hurt Damian.  And <em>Jason</em> is <em>not</em> a traumatized eleven-year-old, so if they’re talking about who, exactly, has a lot to apologize for, then maybe <em>Jason</em> should - </p><p>No no no.  Pit. Lazarus rage.  Not his fault.  <em>Literally died</em>.  </p><p>“Damian has a lot of good qualities,” Dick says, as calmly as he possibly can.  “Tim will be able to see that if they spend more time together.  <em>You</em> could see that, too, if you were willing to <em>try</em>.”</p><p>Sane Jason has hardly interacted with Damian <em>other</em> than the crowbar thing, so Dick should probably be more patient, but honestly he’s had variations of this conversation with so many people so many times that it just makes him want to scream.  He should print fliers: “HE IS ELEVEN,” they could say on one side, and “Children who are raised by evil cults sometimes develop bad coping mechanisms, I KNOW THIS MAY SHOCK YOU” on the other side.</p><p>“You should write a play,” Jason says.  “The tragedy of the Bat-Brat.”</p><p>For God’s sake.  “Look,” Dick says, giving up on discretion, “Tim and Damian don’t like each other.  Okay? That’s true.  But if they only ever see each other in hostile situations, they’re never gonna learn to be <em>friends</em>, much less family.  So if they spend some time together in New York, they’ll - ”</p><p>“Do you think you’re in a sitcom?  Is this the point where I get the sappy moral? Are you <em>on</em> something?  You think they’re gonna have a magical bonding moment and suddenly it’s gonna be allll better? That kid you’re so keen on is a <em>League assassin</em>, Dick.  He’s not gonna just wake up one day and be a real boy.”</p><p>“Look, Tim likes <em>you</em>,” Dick says, because he does seem to.  Now.  <em>Inexplicably</em>, but anyway.  “And he didn’t before, and <em>you</em> were a League assassin, basically.  So clearly it’s possible.”</p><p>“Replacement is a few screws short of a full set.  You wanna know why he likes me?  When he fucking can’t stand you?”</p><p>The phone call's good for one thing: Jason can't see his face.</p><p>“Sure,” Dick says.  “Go for it.  Tell me.”</p><p>Jason doesn’t, though.  There’s a considering silence, then: “<em>So</em>.  Not gonna argue with me, huh?”</p><p>Shit.  “I’m not gonna argue with you about something that I <em>know</em> isn’t true,” Dick says.</p><p>Jason doesn’t actually know anything. He’s just fishing again.  Stirring up trouble.  It’s what he <em>does</em>.  Dick and Tim are fine. He just talked to Tim <em>yesterday</em>.  But the thing is, he <em>does</em> want to know what Tim sees in Jason, likes about Jason, whatever run-in they had that convinced Tim he could be trusted with some of Tim’s old patrol routes.  Tim said they’d just talked, and he thought Jason really cared about making a difference, which… okay.  Dick would <em>like</em> to believe it.  </p><p>He should know <em>more</em>, but Tim hasn’t really confided, because the truce thing was after the Boomerang thing, not to mention the movie night thing, when Tim was exceptionally touchy and defensive and evasive, and now if Dick pushes, Tim will think it’s because Dick doesn’t trust him.</p><p>“I <em>knew</em> all the kid’s Stepford stuff was bullshit,” Jason is saying with satisfaction.  “So are <em>you</em> pissed at <em>him</em> or is <em>he</em> pissed at <em>you</em>?  Are you pissed at him and <em>that’s</em> why you wanna make him spend time with the Bat-Brat?  Just punch him in the fucking nose, Dickiebird, it’ll save time. Or is it the Bat-Brat you’re pissed at? Trouble in paradise?”</p><p>“Would you <em>stop</em>,” Dick says.  “Look, Jason, <em>we</em> didn’t like each other at first, right?”</p><p>“What the fuck do you mean, <em>at first?</em>  I don’t like you <em>now</em>.”</p><p>Trying to have a serious conversation with Jason Todd is like drowning in quicksand, except the quicksand is also <em>insulting you</em>.</p><p>“I’m <em>just saying</em>,” Dick says, “that when I first met you, I was - it was awkward, right?  But then -”</p><p>“You looked down your perfect little nose at me,” Jason says. His accent comes out thicker when he’s angry.  “You were all, what the fuck is the street kid doing in my hoity-toity family?”</p><p>“I. Was. A. Circus. Kid. I was <em>not</em> - you know what, never mind.  My <em>point</em> is, just because we mostly didn’t like each other didn’t mean we couldn’t get along <em>sometimes</em>, right?  Remember you and me and Bruce and that ski trip?”</p><p>He’s summoned up something that they don’t talk about. </p><p>There’s a long, distrustful silence.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>I’ve majorly broken with canon in important ways in order to reform pre52 Jason.  Among other things, in the comics, instead of breaking out and reforming, he gets transferred to regular prison and proceeds to murder 82 people by …*checks notes* poisoning cafeteria food?  Sigh. Yeah, so that did not happen.  Things went pretty differently here.</p><p>Canon that I did keep: Tim (while still Robin) breaks Jason out of Blackgate sometime after Bruce’s “death”; Jason proceeds to go Lazarus-crazy and murder lots of people, coming very close to killing Tim and Damian; later, Jason’s partly responsible for getting Damian’s back broken.  Jason befriending Kory and Roy is stolen from nu52 Jason, Tim canonically likes sci-fi movies, and Dick’s motorcycle shows up regularly in his Nightwing days.</p><p>Also canon: At one point in the Nightwing comics, Jason shows up in NYC wearing the Nightwing costume, declares it HIS costume, and when Dick objects, Jason says he’s willing to be “magnanimous” and share it 50-50.  This is Peak Little Brother Trolling and I still find it funny, although Dick is Not Amused.  (This truly bonkers plot arc also features Jason framing Dick for murder, a tentacle monster, telegrams, and Dick’s semi-involuntary foray into modeling.)</p><p>Here’s my brief take on how Dick found out about Robin!Jason / Jason’s death: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28370688/chapters/69565485</p><p>And here’s a quick look at Damian’s Prove-I-am-the-True-Robin thing: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30288093</p><p>Next up: Dick and Jason continue to attempt communication. (It’s not super-effective.)  And then, Babs!</p><p>If you’re a Jason fan, mind the tags and don’t worry, everybody’s at peak mutual misunderstanding right now, but I promise this relationship will improve in time.  (Nowhere to go but up!)  In Jason's defense, dying and coming back to life and going kinda crazy and ending up in Arkham is hard on a person. In Dick's defense, Crazy Jason was REALLY AWFUL, especially to Dick.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0005"><h2>5. Jason 2</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“Sure, I remember the ski trip,” Jason says at last.</p><p>“Well -“</p><p>“I remember you whined the whole time about how you were missing your stupid Titans movie night.”</p><p>This is a total lie.  Dick might, <em>at most</em>, have mentioned it a time or two, mostly because Bruce had sprung the trip on him with no warning - only a curt email, <em>months</em> after he’d stormed out of the Cave after confronting Bruce about his surprise new Robin.  He'd barely seen Bruce since, on a few rare, always-regretted, never-reciprocated visits to Gotham.  But then, completely unexpected: the email, which said that the ski resort on Mount Gotham was open that weekend and that if Dick was available he would be “very welcome,” which was the biggest giveaway that the email had undergone some heavy Alfred editing before getting signed with Bruce’s name.</p><p>Dick had gone, partly out of desire for reconciliation, partly wanting to yell at Bruce some more… and mostly because he had (idiotically, in retrospect) assumed that the trip would not include Jason.</p><p>But… it had been fun.  Actually.  Dick had wasted a lot of it being secretly (and not-so-secretly) resentful about things, but… it had been fun.  And for a while, Bruce had gone off somewhere, and left them alone, and it turned out that Jason - proud, prickly Jason - had never been skiing before, and Dick showed him how to put the equipment on right, and the very first time they went up on the slopes <em>alone</em>, just the two of them, before Bruce came back.</p><p>Dick used to have a photo of the two of them at the very top, though the printout blew up with everything else in his old apartment.  He’s still got a copy of it, on his phone where Jason will hopefully never see it.</p><p>All this time later, the photo still feels weirdly like a vulnerability, like admitting to… wanting something.</p><p>Something Jason is very much not gonna give him.</p><p>He’s uncomfortably aware, the way he always is with Jason, that even <em>that</em> trip could’ve gone better, and it wasn’t entirely Jason’s fault.  Since then Dick has been to a thousand places with <em>Tim</em> - the baseball games, and the cruise, and the sightseeing in Monte Carlo, and Palermo, and all those movie nights in Blüdhaven, and the trip to Paris, and the <em>other</em> trip to Paris.  But thirteen-year-old Tim had been so <em>different</em> from Jason, had come to Dick desperately wanting family, at a time when Dick had been pretty convinced he was done with family for good, hardened by the sting of Bruce’s betrayal and the colossal guilt of Jason’s death.  </p><p>And it made it - not easy, never <em>easy</em>, but easi<em>er</em>, for Dick to let down his guard, raised so high and defensive after Bruce had fired him.  It was so obvious that Tim was desperate for connection, would take anything he could get.  It made it less risky to train him up, show him around, invite him into Dick’s apartment, his friendships, his <em>life</em>.  He was eager: less likely to turn his back.  Careful: less likely to die.  Even now, even if you take into account that he took off for eight straight months right when Gotham started falling to pieces last year…  Tim is still a steadier presence in Dick’s life than <em>Bruce</em> is.  Sad to say.</p><p>With Tim, Dick did a thousand things he never did with Jason, never even <em>tried</em>.</p><p>It’s not fair.  He <em>knows</em> that.  The <em>pretender</em> jab was aimed at Tim, but <em>replacement</em> - that barb was for Dick and Bruce, too, who had replaced the kid they hadn’t valued enough with one who was his polar opposite.</p><p>But fifteen-year-old Jason had not wanted a brother; he’d wanted Dick to <em>go away</em>.  And still does.</p><p>Still.  They connected for a bit, there on the mountain.  He <em>knows</em> they did.  “I’m just saying.  It worked for us, right?  Getting away?  Out of costume?  It might work for Damian and Tim.”</p><p>“Yeah,” Jason says.  “D’you know why that worked? Do you?”</p><p>“I think,” Dick says, “that - the distance, you know - from Gotham - it helped us -”</p><p>“Bull<em>shit</em>!”  Jason sounds for a moment startlingly younger, like his old self, fuming but without the quickspark rage.  “It helped <em>you</em>.  It helped <em>you</em> get <em>your</em> head out of <em>your</em> ass and stop being a jerk to me.  For about two seconds.  It was not the fucking magical ski trip.  It was <em>you</em>.”</p><p>“Okay,” Dick says slowly.  He doesn’t really get the distinction.  “But you get what I mean, right?  We got along better, without the - the costumes getting in the way.  I mean, I know you thought my costume was kind of -”</p><p><em>Weird</em>, he’s about to say, meaning the Nightwing costume, but he doesn’t get the chance.</p><p>“It was not <em>your</em> costume, it was <em>mine</em>,” Jason says.  “Christ.  You’re so fucking condescending.”</p><p>And he <em>knows</em> he shouldn’t rise to this, but -</p><p>“It was <em>in fact</em> mine,” Dick snaps, before he remembers that a) it doesn’t actually matter <em>now</em>, and b) he gave Jason the costume in the end <em>anyway</em>, so it <em>really</em> doesn’t matter now, and c) he is a grown man and also <em>Bat</em>man, unlike Jason, who is a rampaging toddler with guns.</p><p>And anyway, Jason doesn’t know about the circus, that the costume came from <em>Dick’s</em> life and <em>Dick’s</em> name and <em>Dick’s</em> parents, and he doesn’t know because how <em>would</em> he know because Dick has never told him, so it’s stupid to be mad at him for a thing that is always and forever Bruce’s fault.  God.  This is why he hates talking to Jason.</p><p>“I mean,” Dick restarts.  “Can we <em>please</em> not argue about this?”</p><p>“Fine.”</p><p>“Fine.”</p><p>God.  Maybe they should go on another ski trip.  You know.  In Dick’s copious free time.  When he’s not trying to keep Gotham from falling apart and keep all his siblings from killing each other and looking after <em>Bruce’s</em> city and <em>Bruce’s</em> kid while <em>Bruce himself</em> skips off to freaking <em>Belarus</em> -</p><p>Dick really really really needs a vacation.  Yes, it’s for Damian.  But Dick needs this too, he’s realizing.  As usual, Babs knew what he needed about a month before Dick worked it out.  He <em>really</em> wishes Steph wasn’t helping out Cass in Hong Kong this week.</p><p>“Look,” Dick says at last.  “It worked for <em>us</em>.  That’s all I’m saying.”</p><p>“And <em>I’m</em> saying,” Jason says testily, “it wouldn’t work for <em>them</em>.”</p><p>“I don’t see why not.”</p><p>“For fuck’s sake,” Jason mutters, and then, louder:  “It worked for us because I <em>wanted you to like me</em>, you <em>idiot</em>.”</p><p>That’s - </p><p>“What?” Dick says stupidly.</p><p>“Jesus <em>Christ</em>,” Jason says, and huffs.  “All right, Golden Boy, listen up, ‘cause I’m only gonna say this <em>once</em>.  I was a stupid kid, yeah?  And I <em>looked up to you</em>, okay? The original Robin, blah blah blah.  I mean, when I helped out Donna, the Brother Blood thing, she <em>would not shut up </em>about you.  And I wanted you to - to - to fucking <em>like</em> me, okay?”</p><p>But -</p><p>“And you <em>hated</em> me,” Jason barrels on, “but, oh wait, you have your fucking amazing guilt complex!  So we get out the skiis, and you’re all, <em>oh, poor little Jason, what a sob story, never been skiing</em>, <em>guess I should maybe stop being a jackass for ONCE IN MY FUCKING LIFE</em>, and <em>I</em> am, like, pathetic enough to be <em>glad about it</em>, yeah?  <em>That’s</em> why that worked.  It was not the <em>costumes</em>, it was not the <em>ski trip</em>, it was <em>you!</em>”</p><p>Jason’s breathing hard, like <em>he</em> can barely believe he just said this either.</p><p>“What,” Dick manages.</p><p>Kid-Jason had been many things - brash, surly, determined to pretend that he’d seen skiis before and defensive once it was clear he definitely hadn’t - but above all, he had been consistently insulting.  <em>Gotham needs a tougher Robin now.  You’re over, old timer.  I guess you think the balance bars make you special, huh?  I don’t have to take advice from a has-been. </em></p><p>Even on the ski trip, when Jason was a <em>bit</em> less prickly, he’d still insulted Dick’s hair, fashion sense, face, and choice of city in about the first five minutes of Bruce leaving them alone together.  Dick had been torn between finding him infuriating and reluctantly admiring his pluck.</p><p>
  <em>Wanted you to <span class="u">like</span> me?  Looked <span class="u">up</span> to you?</em>
</p><p>And also: “I didn’t hate you,” Dick says.  “I <em>never</em> hated you.  Jason -”</p><p>“Don’t <em>even</em> start, Dickiebird, it’s fucking insulting that you think I couldn’t tell.  And - look, my <em>point</em> is, that’s why it’s <em>not</em> gonna work with the Replacement and the Bat-Brat.  The Bat-Brat <em>hates</em> the Replacement - <em>actually</em> hates him, like, there is no suppressed hero worship going on <em>there</em>, yeah?  Whereas with <em>me</em>, I was just waiting for you to be fucking nice to me!  Voila!  Done!  The only problem <em>we</em> ever had was that you’re a stuck-up ass who thought I wasn’t good enough for your fucking family, so -”</p><p>This is so egregiously unfair Dick doesn’t know where to begin.  “Jason, I <em>was</em> nice to you!”</p><p>“All the nicey-nice bullshit doesn’t count -” </p><p>“I don’t even know what that <em>means</em> -”</p><p>“<em>Whatever</em>, my <em>point</em> is, the <em>Bat-Brat</em> does not look up to the <em>Replacement</em>, and the <em>Replacement</em> is not an ass to the <em>Bat-Brat</em>, so it’s not the same thing!”  Jason sounds like he’s pacing.  “Which brings me to my <em>second</em> point, which is that your cutesy little ski trip metaphor is fucking insulting, because that was all <em>your</em> fault, whereas here it’s the <em>Bat-Brat’s</em> fault -”</p><p>“No, it’s not!  And - look, actually I think Damian <em>does</em> look up to Tim -“</p><p>“For Christ’s sake, Dickiebird, does he also look up to <em>me</em>?  Was the crowbar just an expression of affection? <em>I-love-you</em> in Bat-Brat?”</p><p>The hypocrisy is unreal.  “Jason, the first time I met <em>you</em>, you <em>punched</em> me, remember?  You hit Bruce with a <em>tire iron</em>.  Damian had a rough childhood <em>too, </em>okay?  Instead of judging him, maybe you could try to <em>empathize</em>, and -”</p><p>“Stop fucking comparing me to the Bat-Brat!”</p><p>That’s not what I’m doing,” Dick says, holding onto his temper with an effort.  “I’m just <em>saying</em>, Damian’s not the first kid to ever lash out a bit, so maybe don’t throw stones.”</p><p>“Do you have any idea how insulting you’re being right now?  You <em>don’t</em>, do you?  You and B and your antiquated sense of morality - it’s all the same thing to you, huh?  You don’t think there’s a <em>bit</em> of a difference between <em>me</em> going for Garzonas, or Black Mask, or the <em>Joker</em>, and your little sidekick stabbing everyone in sight because of his <em>daddy issues</em>?  I didn’t <em>randomly attack people</em>.  I <em>defended</em> myself, and I went after <em>rapists</em> and <em>murderers</em>.  So spare me the sanctimonious nonsense, because me and the al-Ghul brat have <em>nothing in common</em>.”</p><p>Jason’s voice is developing a growly undertone that might be a bad sign, but Dick’s sick to death of biting his tongue.  </p><p>“You stabbed <em>me</em>, Jason.  You stabbed <em>Tim</em>.  You <em>shot Damian</em>.  Don’t try to tell <em>me</em> that you had some higher purpose because guess what? <em>You didn’t</em>.”</p><p>“<em>You</em> take a dip in the al-Ghul swimming pool and see how you fucking like it!  And it’s not like you and the big man were any help at <em>all</em> - ”</p><p>“I <em>offered</em> you help,” Dick says.  “I <em>tried</em> to help you!  <em>Bruce</em> tried to help you!  You’re not in Arkham <em>now</em>, are you?”</p><p>“What, am I supposed to be <em>grateful?</em>  Do you want <em>bootlicking</em>?  You’re such hypocrites!  Your little sidekick can run off and bludgeon anyone he wants without even getting a <em>scolding</em>, and <em>I’m</em> the pariah?  Daddy Bats gives his bio kid a thousand second chances, and <em>I</em> get zip?  The rich kid gets a slap on the wrist and the street kid can go <em>hang</em>?”</p><p><em>Unbelievable</em>.  “Are you <em>listening</em> to yourself?” Dick demands.  “You’re twenty years old and you’re still blaming <em>other people</em> for things that are <em>your fault</em>.  Damian’s a <em>kid</em>, he was brainwashed by the al-Ghuls, he was <em>tortured</em> by the League, he isn’t even in middle school yet, and he still did the one thing that <em>you didn’t</em> - <em>he</em> chose to do the right thing!  He <em>rejected</em> the al-Ghuls, he chose to be a <em>hero</em> -”</p><p>“A <em>hero</em>?  Don’t make me <em>laugh</em>.  Look, I don’t know what the fuck B told you, but when <em>I</em> was in that costume?  <em>I</em> was a hero.  I never <em>once</em> went too fucking far.  I did not need <em>adult supervision</em>, I did not pick fights for no reason, I was not a - a little whack-job <em>sociopath</em> that needed to be watched and babied and catered to at every second lest he go for someone’s <em>throat</em>, and it’s pretty fucking insulting of you to suggest I was.”</p><p>… <em>What</em>.</p><p>“Damian is not a <em>sociopath</em>," Dick says, so furious he can barely see straight.  “What the <em>hell</em>, Jason - “</p><p>“Ooh, did I hit a nerve?  Should I rephrase?  Your pity project? Your little lunatic?”</p><p>Dick could <em>kill</em> him.  “Damian is a <em>child</em> - he’s not a <em>whack-job</em>, he’s not a <em>lunatic</em>, you know <em>nothing</em> about him, and if you want -”</p><p>“He’s a spoiled, selfish little brat that can’t see beyond the end of his own nose!“</p><p>“If you want to <em>KEEP THE TRUCE</em>,” Dick bites out, “I suggest that you keep your <em>damn</em> mouth shut about the kid who <em>YOU ALMOST MURDERED</em>!  <em>TWICE!</em>“</p><p>Dead silence, then:</p><p>“You think <em>I</em> care about a truce?” Jason snarls, cold and deadly.</p><p>That snarl in Jason’s voice means green eyes on the other end of the line, but honestly?  Dick doesn’t care.</p><p>Bring. It. On.</p><p>* * *</p><p>(Damian worrying about the well-being of inadequately-cared-for cheetahs, about Jon Kent’s health and grades and safety, about the girl he’d failed to save.  <em>Selfish</em>?  Like <em>hell</em>.)</p><p>(Damian unconscious after Jason <em>shot him</em>.  He could’ve <em>died</em>.)</p><p>(Damian with his back broken, eyes wide and dilated, trying to be brave. Damian wincing from the shocks of electricity, agonizingly stoic.)</p><p>Because of <em>Jason</em>.  Always, always, <em>always</em> Jason. <em>Jason’s</em> petty grudges, <em>Jason’s</em> selfishness, <em>Jason’s</em> stupid schemes.</p><p>* * *</p><p>Jason Todd’s voice has taken on the predatory sing-song that means <em>green</em>, <em>green, green</em>.  “You think you’re <em>so</em> much better than me, huh?”</p><p>Dick put a tracker on Jason at their first meeting, when they made the truce.  Dick’s an optimist, not an idiot.  He calls up the data now.</p><p>Tricorner apartment.  Ten minutes, tops.</p><p>Ten minutes to get to Jason’s apartment and <em>kick his teeth in</em>.</p><p>“You’re <em>pathetic,” </em>Jason is sneering.<em>  “</em>Who’s the one who let Pyg set the city on <em>fire</em>, huh?  Yeah, that was <em>you</em>.  Who let the Joker get out of Arkham?  <em>You</em>!  Did you even look for him, or were you too busy looking for <em>me</em>?  You’re just like the old man - you’re too much of a coward to make the hard choices.”</p><p>“You know <em>nothing</em> about me,” Dick bites out.  “You <em>never have</em>.”</p><p>“I know everything I <em>need</em> to know.  I know you talk a good game and you never fucking back it up, <em>that’s</em> what I know.  You sanctimonious self-absorbed hypocrite!  Must be nice, being the favorite child, never having to <em>pay</em> for anything.  Still hiding from the real world while the rest of us have to <em>live</em> in it!  He would’ve killed the clown for <em>you</em>.”</p><p>It always comes back to that.  Jason’s like a spoiled <em>child</em>.  Bruce gave him everything without him ever needing to ask, his death screwed Bruce up so much he’s been basically incapable of having a normal relationship <em>ever since, </em>and Jason <em>still</em> wants more.  Bruce kicked Dick out of his life because he seemed <em>insufficiently sad</em> about Jason’s death when that <em>wasn’t even true</em>, and Jason’s sulking because Bruce wouldn’t break the <em>one</em> rule he wouldn’t break for Joey Chill and Tony Zucco and Boomerang.  The Joker paralyzed Babs, he almost killed Tim, he almost killed <em>Damian</em> last December, but no, <em>naturally</em>, it’s all about <em>Jason’s</em> hurt feelings, because nobody else exists in the endless selfish melodrama of Jason Todd.</p><p>Under the buzzing in his ears, he can still hear Jason talking, because of course Jason Todd never <em>shuts up</em>.</p><p>“What <em>I </em>know,” Jason is saying, “is that when things get ugly, <em>you</em> do <em>nothing</em>, and everybody else pays for <em>your</em> failures.  You better hope that never comes back to bite someone you <em>actually</em> care about.  Like the baby bat.”</p><p>“Stay the hell away from him!”</p><p>“Touchy, touchy.  You do seem <em>awfully</em> attached, Dickiebird.  What’re you gonna do if someone takes a crowbar to <em>his</em> skull, one of these days?  Where are all your precious morals gonna be <em>then</em>?”</p><p>Dick’s heart is hammering.  This, <em>this</em> is the Jason voice that he knows best.</p><p>He’s <em>sick</em> of this.  He’s sick of the danger, he’s sick of the risks, he’s sick of <em>Jason</em>.  </p><p>“You want a <em>fight</em>?” Dick says.  “You’ve got one with <em>me</em>.”</p><p>The suit’s armored but the gauntlets aren’t heavy.  He’s got another pair with brass knuckles.  It’s the work of a moment to strip off the gauntlets, put on the new ones.</p><p>“Here’s how it’s gonna be,” Jason is saying.   The incantatory, taunting lilt doesn’t change.  “First, I’m gonna shoot <em>you</em>.  But I’m not gonna kill you, that’s too easy.  <em>Here’s</em> what I’m gonna do.  I’m gonna tie you up.  You know what being tied up is like?  It is not fucking fun.  I’m gonna tie you up, and then I’m gonna shoot -”</p><p>Then, abruptly, in a different voice: “<em>Fuck</em>.”</p><p>Huh?</p><p>Dead silence.</p><p>… Okay.  That was unexpected.</p><p>* * *</p><p>“Jason?”</p><p>“Fuck,” Jason says again, and for a moment he sounds like someone Dick doesn’t know at all. “Dick.  Dickie, I need you to shut up for a minute.”</p><p>“What -”</p><p>“Shut <em>up</em>,” Jason snarls.</p><p>Dick shuts up.</p><p>He’s half-expecting Jason to hang up, or throw the phone, or start snarling again, or <em>something</em>, but -</p><p>But nothing comes.</p><p>Instead -</p><p>All he can hear Jason is breathing.  Harsh, regular breaths.</p><p>And - faint noises, not quite audible, like he’s mumbling under his breath. Counting to ten?  </p><p>Or possibly just muttering the word <em>dead</em> to himself, depending on if Dick’s ears are failing him here.</p><p>The <em>hell</em>?  Is this the meditation thing?  </p><p>“Jason?” Dick asks warily.</p><p>“Circus boy,” Jason says, tight, “I realize this is a foreign fucking concept for you, but I need you to be <em>quiet</em>.  I need to focus and you are <em>not helping</em> and this is kinda fucking important or things are gonna get <em>real</em> messy, yeah?  Do you <em>wanna</em> fight?  No?  Then shut <em>up</em> already!”</p><p>But his voice is…</p><p>…almost normal.</p><p>The growly undertone, the taunting snarl, everything that Dick associates with the Lazarus rage - it’s gone, like they weren’t ready to <em>kill</em> each other five seconds ago.</p><p>“Right,” Dick says.  “Yeah, okay.”</p><p>He waits for Jason to finish… whatever he’s doing.  All Dick can hear is the faint mumbling on the other end of the line, barely distinguishable from static.</p><p>It’s not like Jason, to back down from a fight.  But, well.  Dick <em>knew</em> this, didn’t he?  Reformed now.</p><p>He tries to calm <em>himself</em> down, which is actually kind of hard.  The adrenaline is still pounding through his veins. All keyed-up for a fight and nothing to <em>do</em> with it.</p><p>(It would have been a relief, to just have the fight.)</p><p>(He <em>has</em> to get out of Gotham. Babs is right.  Really, really, really time for a vacation.  When you’re picking a fight with Lazarus-y Jason Todd and <em>he’s</em> the one de-escalating, that’s when you know you’re really in trouble.)</p><p>(The Damian stuff <em>was</em> out-of-line, though.)</p><p>(Get a <em>grip</em>, Grayson.)</p><p>Jason’s stopped mumbling.  There’s a wary silence.</p><p>“Jason?”</p><p>“<em>You</em>,” Jason says.</p><p>The tone suggests that he’s about to follow up with an extremely cutting insult.  Jason is painfully good at this.  Smug, vicious, gloating, sneering: Dick’s heard it all.  </p><p><em>Timmy can’t hear you, he’s <span class="u">dead</span> - <span class="u">you’re</span> the one who needs help… So-called hero who let Robin die</em>…  <em>A failure paralyzed by <span class="u">fear</span> of failure…  My blood’s gonna be on your hands, you know…  You just couldn’t stand the fact that you were always gonna be in his shadow! </em>… <em>It’s because you’ve never been good enough - you think any of this would be happening if <span class="u">B</span> was here?</em></p><p>And the one that’s always stuck with him, the one that he’s never forgotten, the one that still shows up in his <em>dreams</em> sometimes, taunting voice, smug and sure:</p><p>
  <em>But your friends and neighbors don't have a very high survival rate, <span class="u">do</span> they, Dickiebird?</em>
</p><p>…<em>Not </em>this Jason.</p><p>“You are,” Jason says.</p><p>Dick instinctively braces himself.  </p><p>“You’re an idiot,” Jason says.</p><p>Well, that was anticlimactic.</p><p>“You’re an idiot and your idiocy personally offends me.”</p><p>A little meaner, but still pretty lame by Jason’s standards.</p><p>“That’s really the best you can do?” Dick can’t help saying.</p><p>“Fuck you, I was being nice,” Jason says.  He still sounds a bit twitchy.  “Look, <em>Batman</em>, not that this hasn’t been fun and all -“</p><p>Shit.  Reality comes back all in a rush.  Fighting with Jason: not really conducive to the <em>get him to watch Gotham </em>plan.  “Jason -“</p><p>“- but I’ve got stuff to do.  Can we skip tomorrow’s is-Jason-crazy meeting since we had it today?”</p><p>If that little temper tantrum was anything to go by, Jason is <em>still</em> kinda crazy, and it’s probably a <em>terrible</em> idea to give the Red Hood control of Gotham if Jason’s control is this shaky.  But Dick <em>has</em> to get out of town<em>, he’s</em> going insane.  Gotham will just have to <em>deal</em>.</p><p>He can hear the wail of a police siren, somewhere faint in the distance.  Gotham never sleeps.  It never <em>ends</em>.  And Dick can <em>take</em> it, he <em>can</em>, it’s just - is one <em>week</em> too much to ask?  He <em>just</em> needs a week.  Fix Damian’s Wednesday thing, fix the Tim-and-Damian thing, finally deal with his mail, get his head on straight.  <em>Then</em> he can come back and figure out if Jason is actually sane or not.  It’s <em>just</em> a week.  Jason can stay in control for a <em>week, </em>can’t he?</p><p>“Jason, I - seriously, the New York thing -“</p><p>“Actually, come to think of it, I might head out of town a little early.”</p><p>He <em>really</em> doesn’t want to say this, but: “Jason, <em>please</em>.”</p><p>Jason sighs.  “Look, Golden Boy, I know you’re not gonna believe this, but I am actually doing you a favor, okay?  This is a bad idea.  I’m <em>serious</em>, okay?  It would be a total disaster, the brats would murder each other, the al-Ghuls would bring ‘em back to life so they could kill each other <em>again</em>, <em>you’d</em> weep and wail and probably throw yourself on the coffins or something because of the guilt of it all, and <em>B</em> would find some way to blame <em>me</em>.  So if you think about it, my vacation plans have basically saved a lot of lives here, and you owe me.”</p><p>“Jason -”</p><p>“Genuinely do not understand why you’re so set on this, Dickiebird, it’s not like the ski trip was even so great <em>anyway</em>, or did you forget the part where you told us to go fuck ourselves and <em>stormed off</em>?”</p><p>Dick does, actually, remember the last thing he said to teenage Jason Todd, at the end of the ski trip.  It was this: <em>you’ve got my number, call if you need something</em>.  </p><p>It’s kind of a vivid memory.  The last time he saw kid-Jason <em>alive</em>.</p><p>“I didn’t <em>storm off</em>,” Dick says. “I <em>left</em>, because it was the end of the weekend and I had to get back to the Titans.”</p><p>“Yeah, funny, that’s not the way that <em>I</em> remember it. The way <em>I </em>remember it, you flounced off in one of your drama-queen fits, and B sulked about it for <em>eons</em>.  Which <em>I</em> had to put up with, by the way.”</p><p>“It’s not <em>my</em> fault that <em>he’s</em> an ass,” Dick snaps, and regrets it.  “Look, forget about Bruce.  I didn’t say anything rude to <em>you</em>, did I?  <em>We</em> got along, didn’t we?”  And maybe this is a stupid fight to have, but Dick has exactly one good memory of kid-Jason, and <em>this is it</em>.  “Jason, you <em>just</em> admitted you had a good time.”</p><p>“Pretty sure that’s <em>not</em> what I said,” Jason says, even though it is, in fact, <em>exactly</em> what he just said.  “Anyway, still not seeing what <em>any</em> of that has to do with your idiotic New York idea.”</p><p>Argh. “Look, Damian and Tim both like art, okay?  It’s a thing they have in common.  So <em>maybe</em>, if they spent some time together, <em>looking at art</em>, <em>a thing they both like</em>, then -”</p><p>“Since when do <em>either</em> of them like art?”</p><p>Damian doesn’t merely <em>like</em> art.  He <em>loves</em> art.  Damian draws and paints and has such intense critical opinions about the signage of the Gotham City Art Museum that Dick once had to carefully talk him down from marching into the director’s office to lodge complaints.  Plus Damian has a bunch of strong opinions about a weird sculpture that Bruce used to keep in the study, which - Dick happens to know - is the <em>exact same sculpture</em> that thirteen-year-old Tim <em>also</em> got extremely nerdy about.</p><p>And although Tim’s admittedly never been as obsessive about artsy stuff as Damian is, <em>he</em> used to take <em>photographs</em>, and once, while he and Dick were trying to track down an art forger-turned-illusionist in Milan, Tim absent-mindedly rattled off a list of the ten nearest locations of valuable art troves that the forger might be targeting.</p><p>The point is, <em>they like art</em> is not a crazy deduction for Dick to make here.</p><p>Damian would <em>love</em> this art festival.  </p><p>And although Tim might say no, he might say <em>yes</em>.  Tim likes New York, and the festival was even his idea, kind of.  Tim’s been dodging out-of-costume time with Damian ever since that disastrous movie night in January, so a three-of-us trip isn’t <em>necessarily</em> gonna get a better reaction, but…it’s worth a<em> try</em>.</p><p>The whole problem with Tim-and-Damian is that Tim doesn’t <em>know</em> Damian.   And Damian makes a terrible first impression, on account of <em>raised by assassins</em> and all.  </p><p>Jason is a <em>jackass</em>, but - the thing is, all the awful stuff he said, that’s what <em>most</em> people think about Damian.  It’s what <em>Tim</em> probably thinks.  It’s what Damian <em>tries</em> to make people think, bristling up like a porcupine every time he meets someone new, because the League taught him that vulnerability was a weakness and he’d rather be strong and hated than risk betrayal.</p><p>But it’s not <em>true</em>.  It’s a façade, a mask that hides the <em>real</em> Damian, the kid who once carefully rescued a bird with a broken wing and hid it in a shoebox because he was afraid Dick and Alfred might want to kill it.  The kid who <em>bleeds</em> for acceptance, for love, for trust.  The kid who <em>does</em> look up to Tim, though Damian would never admit it and Tim would never believe it.</p><p>Dick knows in theory, though it’s always been weird to think about, that Tim used to feel like he was in the shadow of Dick’s legacy as Robin.  Working with Bruce, leading the Titans: he would try to imitate Dick, or ask him for advice, or copy his moves.  But that’s not true of Damian, who’s only ever known Dick as <em>Batman</em>.  <em>Tim</em> was Damian’s Robin - the person he watched and envied, the person he still tries to emulate, the person he’d want to impress, if Tim would only stop bristling at him.</p><p>But the problem is, Tim doesn’t like or trust Damian.  And Damian reacts badly to <em>that</em>, and it’s a vicious spiral.</p><p>If Tim spent some time out-of-costume with Damian, especially Damian <em>being a kid, </em>getting childishly excited over art or grumpy over museum signs, it would help.  Dick <em>knows</em> it would.  Damian is secretly an <em>incredibly</em> sweet kid under all the prickly defensiveness.  Alfred learned to see that, and Dick learned to see it, and the Kents learned to see it.  It can’t be impossible that Tim could do the same.</p><p>And - and, okay, a trip <em>might</em> not fix things, but it’s not like Tim and Damian’s relationship can get any <em>worse</em>.  Dick’s been <em>trying</em> to back off, but Tim’s been back for <em>months</em> and nothing’s changed: Damian paranoid and insecure and wary, and Tim sulking off in his apartment, avoiding the Penthouse and testy even about joint patrols.  It’s exhausting.  The status quo isn’t good for Tim <em>or</em> Damian, and frankly, Dick himself is sick to death of having to play mediator every five seconds.  And it’s not like Dick can just <em>stop</em> going on patrol with them.  Damian needs Robin to keep him stable and confident and secure in his place in the family, and <em>Dick</em> needs <em>Red</em> Robin for backup on the ugly cases, so they’re gonna have to work it out <em>somehow</em>.</p><p>A trip could help.  The Wednesday thing is admittedly an issue, but it’s a <em>fixable</em> one.  The three of them could spend <em>most</em> of the week together, and it could be just Dick and Damian on Wednesday.  If Dick got lucky, the trip could solve <em>both</em> his current problems: Damian’s Wednesday thing <em>and</em> Tim’s distance.  Two birds, one stone.  <em>And</em> a vacation.</p><p>But Jason doesn’t care about that.</p><p>“Look, Jason, just <em>trust</em> me, okay?  They both like art, and the art festival is <em>this</em> week.  Are you sure you can’t reschedule <em>your</em> thing?”</p><p>“Maybe I could, maybe I couldn’t, but I’m not your <em>gofer</em>, and I’m not <em>gonna</em>.  Maybe the <em>brats</em> hang on your every word, Golden Boy, but you’re not the boss of <em>me</em>.”</p><p>“I don’t -”</p><p>“Sorry, did you need that clarified?  Let me elaborate: not gonna happen, no way in hell, not interested, nothing doing, absolutely not<em>, final answer</em>.  You can send me a gift basket next week when you realize what a terrible idea this was.”</p><p>“Jason -”</p><p>“Or write me a thank you note. Your call.  <em>Dear Jason, zoo and a movie went great, please kick me in the head if I ever mention New York again, ta ever so</em>, <em>yours truly, etcetera</em>.  I also take payment in cash.<em>“</em></p><p>“Jason -“</p><p>“Dickiebird, <em>I said no</em>.  Would it kill you to listen to me for once in your <em>life</em>?”</p><p>“I <em>am</em> listening,” Dick says.  “Look, I’ll think about everything you said, okay?  And if I can think of something else then I’ll do <em>that</em>.  But -“  He pushes off the cowl so he can rub the grit out of his eyes.  “Jason, I’m <em>sorry</em>, I - I know I wasn’t really trying, when you were a kid, but I’m trying <em>now</em>, okay, I am <em>trying</em> to make this family work.”</p><p>“Well, it’s not <em>gonna</em> work.  This isn’t a family, it’s a lunatic ward.  The Bat-Brat’s <em>homi</em>cidal, the Replacement’s <em>sui</em>cidal<em> -"</em></p><p>
  <em></em>
</p><p>"You're not being funny, Jason -"</p><p>
  <em></em>
</p><p><em>" - you’re</em> just <em>deluded</em>, and don’t even get me <em>started</em> on B.  What a lovely family.  Have a great trip.  Have fun packing the <em>crowbars</em>.  And do <em>not</em> call me!”</p><p>“<em>Jason</em>.”</p><p>But it’s pointless: Jason hangs up, and when Dick tries to call him back, it goes straight to voicemail.</p><p>Well.  That went well.</p><p>* * *</p><p>Okay.</p><p>Okay.  Fine.  Forget Jason.</p><p>Dick is <em>not</em> giving up on this trip.  Maybe they can just go on the trip <em>anyway</em>.  Maybe Gotham <em>doesn’t</em> need to be supervised.  <em>Other</em> cities manage for a week without superheroes.  Maybe Gotham could too.  Maybe Gotham can just … do without Batman for a week.</p><p>And without Red Hood.  And without Batgirl and Black Bat and Robin and Red Robin.</p><p>… Okay, so maybe that’s kind ofirresponsible.  But… it <em>might</em> be okay.  Gotham <em>probably</em> won’t collapse into chaos if no one’s on duty for a week.  And actually, the major rogues are all either back in Arkham or laying low.  There’s an excellent chance it <em>would</em> be okay.  It’s not like Gotham has disasters every <em>day</em>.</p><p>And Dick and Damian and Tim could go to New York.</p><p>Which could <em>also</em> be okay.  Just because <em>Jason</em> doesn’t think it’s a good idea, doesn’t mean it <em>isn’t</em> a good idea.  And, okay, Jason, even when half-crazy, has always been unsettlingly good at reading people.  And he’s got a good eye for conflict.  And Damian and Tim <em>are</em> kinda… volatile.</p><p>But that does <em>not</em> mean a trip couldn’t help, because it <em>could</em>.</p><p>It could.</p><p>…Couldn’t it?</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>ETA: A few questions/issues came up in the comments, and I thought I'd put them up here for everybody:</p><p>1) Re: everybody's ages.  I (roughly) use Secret Files timelines because that's the continuity used by the 90s Nightwing comic and by Young Justice, which inspired a lot of my characterization of Dick and Tim.  So age-wise, Dick is 23, Jason is 20, Tim is 17, and Damian is 11 - i.e. the age difference between Dick and Tim is about the same as between Tim and Damian.  So: big enough that it sometimes seems important, but small enough that it isn't always.</p><p>2) Re: insults.  Lazarus!Jason says some pretty vicious things about Damian. He's lashing out and he's being cruel - that's why Dick loses his temper - but I realized this wasn't written clearly, so I've edited and toned down the insults.  If anyone has more feedback, feel free to send me a msg on Tumblr or leave a comment. I'm really sorry if anyone came here hoping to have a good time and got hurt instead - that's very much not my goal. Lots of love and take care of yourselves. &lt;3</p><p>* * *<br/>Canon notes:</p><p>Also from the Secret Files timelines: Jason was Robin for less than a year.  Not a lot of time for him and Dick to get to know each other, especially since Dick and Bruce were pretty estranged, but they did interact several times.  Uh, for better or worse. XD</p><p>The ski trip photo with Dick and Jason is canonically found in the apartment that blows up - AFAIK the only post-Crisis reference to them spending time together out-of-costume. Tim, of course, is Robin for much longer and he and Dick have a much better relationship: all the places that Dick mentions going with Tim (baseball games, Palermo, etc.) are from canon references when Tim’s Robin.</p><p>Dick’s origin story has many canon versions, but Robin being his mother’s nickname for him is from Batman: Dark Victory, and the Robin costume being identical to the Flying Graysons costume is from Lonely Place of Dying.  And I’m sticking with the post-Crisis canon where Tim thinks of himself as following in <i>Dick’s</i> footsteps as Robin (“take this, it belongs to you!”), as opposed to nu52/fandom, where he’s often more focused on Jason.</p><p>Jason’s italicized flashback quotes (“Gotham needs a tougher Robin now,” etc.) are adapted from things he says to Dick in his two origin stories and in Brothers in Blood, Battle for the Cowl, and Batman and Robin.</p><p>Also canon: Damian’s interest in art and Tim getting nerdy about one of Bruce’s sculptures. The Brother Blood adventure where Jason teams up with Donna is stolen from pre-Crisis Jason.</p><p>Next up: Babs, Tim, and Damian!</p><p>  <i>“Dick,” Babs says, “what I said was, what if <span class="u">you</span> took a vacation.  You.  YOU.  Not Damian.  Not Tim.  Not the Queen of Sheba.  <span class="u">You.</span>"</i></p><p>If you're a Damian fan, don't panic - I love my high-energy chaos child, and Lazarus!Jason's take on the poor kid is very much NOT this fic's final word on Damian, anymore than we should take crazy!Jason at his word when he's lashing out at Robin!Tim.  Damian's just a kid - but Jason in Lazarus rage can't see that.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
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